From coalitions to ambiguous political consensus. The origin story of basic income in Brazil (original) (raw)

Revue francaise de science politique, 2020

Abstract

Ambiguity has now become an indispensable element to understand how consensus-building mechanisms facilitate the adoption of public policies. Increasingly used in analyses of public action, the concept of “ambiguous consensus” can nevertheless lose some of its analytical value when it cuts across opposing categories (first alliances and agreements, for instance, and then oppositions and profound disagreements). If ambiguity is not reduced to the mere transcendence of partisan differences, what does it reveal about the uniqueness of partisan dynamics? And how do “politics” contribute to the consensus-building required for policies to ultimately be adopted? Through an analysis of how basic income programs were developed in Brazil in the 1990s, we shall argue that “consensual ambiguity” operates at three different levels: at an axiological level, at the level of partisan differences, and at the level of electoral strategies. This article will look at the complex process of implementing basic income programs in Brazil, including the famous Bolsa Família set up in 2004.

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