Instruments and public policy integration: the network of the Single Registry for Social Programs

Abstract This article analyzes the capacity of policy integration through implementation tools. The research builds on studies on policy implementation, which understand such tools as “the state in action,” i.e., instruments through which governments operate and deliver public services (Lascoumes & Le Galès, 2007; Linder & Peters, 1990). The research examines the case of the Brazilian Single Registry for Social Programs (Cadastro Único or CadUnico). The Single Registry is understood as part of a network providing social protection to the Brazilian population in social vulnerability. This work examines CadUnico as a complex system formed of a database and a set of norms and processes that work within the structure of local governments. The system gathers data used to coordinate 20 social programs, helping to select beneficiaries and manage policies that serve 27 million low-income families, reaching almost 80 million people. We adopted the social network analysis as a research method, seeking to answer two main questions: what is the position occupied by the Single Registry in the network of relationships formed by the federal social policies which use it, and what are the conditions and the level of integration which it promotes among these federal user policies? The metrics and sociograms of two distinct timeframes, 2016 and 2018, have demonstrated that, although the Single Register for Social Programs offers elements to promote some integration among public policies, there is no evidence of its effectiveness to this end.