by PublicABCP
Translated and reviewed by Matheus Lucas Hebling
The article Desmonte de políticas públicas no governo Bolsonaro: políticas para mulheres, de igualdade racial e para LGBTQIA+ em perspectiva comparada (“The Dismantling of Public Policies under the Bolsonaro Government: Policies for Women, Racial Equality, and LGBTQIA+ in Comparative Perspective”), authored by Euzeneia Carlos (Ufes), Matheus Mazzilli Pereira (UFRGS), and Cristiano Rodrigues (UFMG), was published in the journal Lua Nova. The study analyzes the dismantling of public policies directed at women, racial equality, and the LGBTQIA+ population in Brazil, focusing on the transformations that took place between 2019 and 2022 within the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (Ministério da Mulher, da Família e dos Direitos Humanos, MMFDH).
The research compares the three sectors through an analysis of official documents, budgetary data, and interviews with managers and council members.
The study set out to investigate how changes in the bureaucratic structure, in government programs, and in budget execution resulted in the dismantling of these policies. The authors draw on the theoretical framework of Bauer and Knill (2012), which classifies policy dismantling according to different strategies: dismantling by default, by arena shifting, by symbolic action, and active dismantling. The empirical analysis was guided by three main indicators — bureaucratic structure, budget, and programs — applied to each of the sectors examined.
Among its principal findings, the study indicates that the dismantling was intentional, processual, and progressive. Low-visibility decisions — such as default and the transfer of responsibility to other institutional arenas — were already present under the Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer administrations.
Under the Bolsonaro government, however, these strategies were deepened and combined with more visible and active measures, producing changes in the administrative and procedural capacities of the policies, as well as changes in their scope and target population. These transformations affected both the density of the policies (the number of instruments and programs) and their intensity (the degree of intervention and the implementation structure).
The comparative analysis shows that, despite the specificities of each sector, similar patterns emerged in the application of dismantling strategies. In all three cases, the study observed the downgrading of structures within the administrative hierarchy, budget cuts, the elimination or reconfiguration of programs, and the weakening of participatory spaces such as councils and conferences. It also identified the replacement of gender and race mainstreaming with the notion of “family mainstreaming,” which entailed changes in the objectives and the populations served by the policies.
The authors conclude that the dismantling of public policies in the three sectors analyzed was not the result of administrative omission or isolated budgetary constraints, but rather part of a coordinated strategy pursued by a far-right government.
The research highlights that the prior institutional fragility of some policies — such as those directed at the LGBTQIA+ population — contributed to a greater vulnerability to the effects of dismantling. The study contributes to the debate on transformations in Brazilian public policy in contexts of institutional reconfiguration and democratic backsliding.
In summary:
- The study examined the dismantling of public policies for women, racial equality, and the LGBTQIA+ population in Brazil between 2019 and 2022.
- It compared the three sectors based on official documents, budgetary data, and interviews with managers and council members.
- The analysis draws on the theoretical model of Bauer and Knill, which identifies four dismantling strategies: by default, by arena shifting, by symbolic action, and active dismantling.
- It concludes that the dismantling was intentional, processual, and progressive, with effects on the bureaucratic structure, budget, programs, and scope of the policies.
About the Authors
Euzeneia Carlos is an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences and the Graduate Program in Social Sciences at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Ufes). She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo, USP) and completed postdoctoral research in Political Sociology at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento, CEBRAP).
Matheus Mazzilli Pereira is a professor in the Department of Sociology and the Graduate Program in Sociology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS). He holds a PhD in Sociology from the same institution, including a doctoral exchange period (doutorado sanduíche) at the University of California, Irvine. He is a member of the Associativism, Contestation, and Engagement Research Group (GPACE).
Cristiano Rodrigues is a professor in the Department of Political Science and the Graduate Program in Political Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, UFMG). He holds a PhD in Sociology from the Institute of Social and Political Studies of the Rio de Janeiro State University (Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Políticos, IESP-UERJ). He coordinates the Study Group on Race and Latin America (GERAL) and is a researcher in the Research Network on Feminisms and Politics.
Publication Details
Title: Desmonte de políticas públicas no governo Bolsonaro: políticas para mulheres, de igualdade racial e para LGBTQIA+ em perspectiva comparada [“The Dismantling of Public Policies under the Bolsonaro Government: Policies for Women, Racial Equality, and LGBTQIA+ in Comparative Perspective”]
Authors: Euzeneia Carlos, Matheus Mazzilli Pereira, and Cristiano Rodrigues
Year of publication: 2025
Available in: Revista Lua Nova, no. 124
