Multi-level governance in federal contexts: the Social Assistance Policy in the City of São Paulo

This article examines the governance of social assistance in the City of São Paulo by considering the interplay between the federal normative acts that conform to the Unified System of Social Assistance (SUAS) and the decisions taken at the municipal level, in order to better understand multi-level governance in federal contexts. We demonstrate that federal-set policy parameters matter but they are not sufficient to understand how policies are implemented at the local level. Hence, the article revises some established assumptions about the local implementation of social policies in federal contexts. We argue that the governance of social assistance at the municipal level can be understood by the combination of the following aspects: 01. the power resources, capacities and constraints available for state and civil society actors; 02. the interactions and disputes between these actors in formal and informal arenas; 03. the main ideas supported by relevant actors and the instruments they use to transform ideas into policy actions. Our results show that agency at the local level matters even for nationally regulated policies. Moreover, the historical process of capacity building matters not only to state actors, but also to civil society organizations.

本文以圣保罗市的社会援助治理为研究对象，通过审视契合统一社会援助体系（Unified System of Social Assistance, SUAS）的联邦规范性法案与市级层面决策之间的互动关系，以期更透彻地理解联邦制语境下的多层级治理。本研究表明，联邦层面设定的政策基准虽具有关键影响，但仅以此不足以阐释政策在地方层面的落地实施路径。有鉴于此，本文对联邦制语境下社会政策地方落地的既有主流假设作出修正。我们认为，可通过以下三方面的综合作用来理解市级层面的社会援助治理：1. 国家与民间社会行动者所拥有的权力资源、能力禀赋与制约因素；2. 上述行动者在正式与非正式场域中产生的互动与争议；3. 相关行动者所秉持的核心理念，以及他们用以将理念转化为政策行动的工具手段。研究结果显示，即便是针对全国性规制的政策，地方层面的行动能动性依然举足轻重。此外，能力建设的历史进程不仅对国家行动者至关重要，对民间社会组织亦同样意义重大。