Public policy networks and the implementation of the Bolsa-Família program: An analysis based on the monitoring of school attendance

Abstract

The paper analyzes how street-level bureaucrats construct and activate the intersectoral network induced by the implementation of the Bolsa Família Program (BFP) in a region of extreme poverty in Brazil. BFP is a federal cash transfer program with conditionalities, benefiting 13.8 million families. Based on the educational conditionality, BFP is articulated with other social policies, using beneficiaries, schools, health units, and social assistance centers as vectors that mobilize public organs, processes and agents, triggering complex and dynamic multi-sectoral and intersectoral social networks. Thirty-one multilevel public agents were interviewed, including 14 education professionals in two schools and eight social work professionals in two local centers. The analysis reveals that street-level bureaucracy emerges as hubs at the local level, indicating the social protection network in the territory depends on personal links and mediations among agents, institutions, and public equipment materialized by processes derived from the monitoring of school attendance. The articulation and interaction between school and social agents reflect degrees of intersectoral cooperation, marked by different patterns of comprehension/translation of routines and strategies. The analysis explicitly highlights connections among (im)material elements of the networks induced by the BFP, emphasizing their potential for understanding the implementation of social and educational policies.