Neoliberal Social Policies: The View of Organized Civil Society

Abstract

This study concerns the articulation of the technical and decision making processes in the new forms of relations between Civil Society and the State in the implementation of Social Policies. The general objective is to encourage integrated actions of public agencies, regional governments and neighborhood committees to meet the needs of families with pre-school children who live below the poverty line. It discusses the different forms of organization of civil society, and specifically the problems created when they enter agreements with the State to implement social policies: that are focused, subcontracted and decentralized. The methodology is based on a case study that combined different data collection and analysis techniques. First, the general characteristics of the CAIF Plan are presented, to explain why it was chosen for the case study. Second, the characteristics of the neoliberal social policies are outlined to then analyze the problems that are generated for organizations upon entering in agreements with the State to manage social services. Finally, as a reflection, the arguments for the effectiveness and efficiency of this type of policy are reviewed based on the results of the analysis of the CAIF plan.