30 years of children and adolescents’ rights: an analysis of the trajectory of public policy in Brazil

Abstract Brazil is recognized for having an advanced regulatory framework in terms of guarantees of rights of children and adolescents. However, the daily challenges to put this framework into practice are still immense. How do we explain this gap between regulation and practice? To answer this question, this article proposes an analytical and theoretical approach anchored in a pragmatist perspective, using the method of cartography of controversies in the analysis of this public policy. This entails retracing the trajectory of the debate in the public arenas that compose this policy historically, seeking to analyze it from the main spokespersons, arguments, controversies, and worldviews present in the public debate. The results allow us to understand how public action in this field has been (re-)configured in the past 30 years, by dispute and stabilization processes, identifying its advances and limits. The conclusions of the study contribute to an understanding of the challenges of this policy, showing that these emerge in the interconnection of levels, forms of regulation, and networks of actors; this requires a review of the traditional conceptions adopted in the analysis of public policies.

摘要 巴西以其在儿童与青少年权利保障领域构建了完善的监管框架而广受国际认可。然而，将该框架落地实施的日常挑战依旧艰巨。我们该如何解释监管框架与实践落地之间的这一落差？为解答这一问题，本文提出了一套以实用主义视角为依托的分析与理论研究路径，并采用争议制图法（cartography of controversies）开展本次公共政策分析。该方法需要回溯构成该政策的各公共场域内辩论的历史轨迹，旨在从公共辩论中的核心发言人、核心论点、争议焦点及世界观维度对政策展开系统性剖析。研究结果使我们得以明晰：过去30年间，该领域的公共行动如何通过争议与稳定化进程实现（重新）塑造，并明确了其发展成效与固有局限。本研究结论有助于深化对该政策所面临挑战的认知：这些挑战产生于治理层级、监管形式与行动者网络三者的相互关联之中，这一发现要求我们重新审视公共政策分析中所沿用的传统理念。