Constitution: risks of further setbacks

Thirty-seven years ago, Brazil witnessed the promulgation of the new Constitution, which would bury the remnants of the dictatorship period, the regime that had been installed thanks to the 1964 military coup. On October 5, 1988, federal deputy Ulysses Guimarães – president of the Constituent Assembly – announced to the country the entry into force of the so-called Citizen Constitution. It was a legal document that sought to express the broad movement that formed around the defense of democracy, the denunciation of the dictatorship, and the struggle for a more just and less unequal country.

Beyond the political and institutional design of a truly democratic nation, parliamentarians were concerned with establishing a new economic and social order that prioritized the pursuit of national development and guaranteed spaces and resources for the construction of a Welfare State. However, this model, consolidated in the new Constitution, ran counter to the neoliberal and privatizing reforms being implemented around the world. 

A few years later came the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union, and the changes seen in the countries of so-called "real socialism," with the reaffirmation of the ideological crushing power promoted by the Washington Consensus. Some more daring authors, such as Francis Fukuyama, even ventured to celebrate what they described as the end of History. Thus, the first version of the Federal Constitution (CF) reaffirmed basic social rights as public and universal, such as social assistance, education, health, and social security. The text incorporates the concept of social security, creating a specific budget to cover the expenses and programs of social assistance, health, and social security. The text addresses the issue of the existence of a workforce in the State with republican characteristics and job stability. Thus, the Single Legal Regime (RJU) is established to absorb public servants at all levels of administration – Union, States, and Municipalities. Furthermore, the provisions maintain the subsoil and its resources as a monopoly and property of the Union. Finally, the text establishes the need for a governmental planning model, through development plans at the national and regional levels.

History of setbacks: since its enactment in 1988.

However, despite all the elements of social progress present in the document, the fact is that since its approval, a process of distorting the Constitution has begun. In 1992, the first amendment was presented and voted on, dealing with the remuneration of state deputies and councilors. This was followed by 135 more amendments. That is, an average of more than 4 constitutional amendments per year until 2025. In fact, the signal for this dismantling of the initial spirit of the Constitution had already been given by José Sarney during the work of the constituent assembly. He had assumed the Presidency of the Republic due to the death of Tancredo Neves and in 1987 declared that... Brazil would become an ungovernable country. If that draft text prepared by the Systematization Committee were approved by the plenary, he used television time for a speech with a tone of blackmail and threat. 

The fact is that Sarney very well represented the interests of significant segments of the Brazilian elite, which had always been quite backward and oligarchic. Thus, the mainstream media reproduced the liberal and anti-state discourse, constantly seeking to deconstruct the presence of the public sector in the economy and even in the provision of fundamental public services. However, the wave of renewal and hope that swept through society as a whole, in anticipation of overcoming the dictatorial period, overwhelmed the attempts at obstruction orchestrated by conservatives. 

The elite camp waited a while to politically regroup and regain the initiative. Thus, the dismantling process began as early as 1992. From a political-electoral standpoint, they found fertile ground during the governments of Fernando Collor and later Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC). But changes to the constitutional text also occurred under the Workers' Party governments from 2003 to 2016, during the presidential terms of Lula and Dilma. These were alterations aimed at introducing provisions into the Constitution that were in line with the principles of privatization and liberalization, as well as measures aimed at reducing the size and responsibilities of the State.

Conservative changes in sequence. 

The main changes occurred in the areas of taxation, pension systems, and the rights of public servants. Furthermore, one of the first Constitutional Amendments (EC) was enacted in 1995: EC No. 6 revoked Article 171 of the Constitution, eliminating the differentiated treatment that existed for national companies compared to foreign companies. This was the fundamental instrument for the widespread opening that developed, from then on, to multinational corporations and international capital. Following this, there was a series of ECs that reduced the rights of public sector workers and promoted new rules in the General Social Security System (RGPS), as well as in the special pension schemes (RPPs) for public servants. 

The discourse regarding the supposed structural inefficiency of the State in its activities is taking root in sectors of society and Parliament, paving the way for the destruction of the state apparatus and the dismantling of public policies. The current situation presents yet another set of proposals pointing towards a so-called "Administrative Reform." I put the term in quotation marks because it is actually a revival of the intention to promote a true "deformation" of the legislation and institutional framework of public administration in our country. What is observed in the processing of the matter within the Chamber of Deputies (CD) is an attempt to resurrect the sadly remembered PEC 32. That proposal had been submitted by the Bolsonaro government in 2020, but thanks to the opposition of public servants' associations and the widespread rejection presented by experts and civil society organizations, the text did not advance in its processing.

However, the current President of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos/PB), chose to regain some prominence in the legislature, coupled with distributing favors and appeasement to representatives of our elites. Among the measures in his strategy was the resumption of the debate regarding Administrative Reform. To this end, he established a Working Group (WG) within the Chamber and appointed his colleague Pedro Paulo (PSD/RJ) as its rapporteur. The Rio de Janeiro parliamentarian is known for his positions strongly aligned with conservatism and linked to actors connected to the financial system. The result was the presentation of a set of measures in a preliminary version addressing the issue. The package includes a Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC), a Complementary Law Project (PLP), and a Law Project (PL). The initial intentions presented there are bold and point to a return to previous failed attempts to reduce the size and responsibilities of the State. The proposals move towards reducing the rights of public servants and eliminating republican guarantees, by creating a public administration structure parallel to the provisions of the Unified Legal Regime. This means opening space for the entry of employees into the public service without job security and with lower salaries.

A setback at this moment: Administrative Reform.

On the other hand, the measures define the need for states and municipalities to adapt to a new order of fiscal austerity, focusing on primary and personnel expenses. To facilitate acceptance of the changes, the documents seek to present themselves in a supposedly modern and sophisticated guise. The working group focused the reform on 4 axes:

1. "Strategy, governance and management," focusing on strategic planning, results-based agreements, and the creation of an optional performance bonus, while maintaining due diligence with public accounts through expenditure review;
2. "Digital transformation," for modernizing the public sector and fully digitizing processes and services;
3. "Professionalization of the public service," focusing on workforce planning, expanding career progression levels, redesigning the probationary period, municipalities and states joining the Unified National Examination (CNU), and implementing a single salary scale; and
4. "Eliminating privileges" to address inequalities and excesses in the public service.

However, the most essential aspects of the changes can be identified in the changes themselves. words from the coordinator of the collegiate body:(...) “It’s not a four-year reform, it’s a State reform designed for the present and for future generations, regardless of who is in charge of the government” (...) [GN]

 

As can be inferred, the objective is to establish a new setback in the political-institutional design of the Brazilian State, seeking to recover the proposals that were on the agenda in all the changes carried out since the approval of the Constitution in 1988. It is up to progressive forces – aligned with a vision based on economic, social, and environmental development – ​​to articulate, once again, a broad movement to prevent this further attack originating from the conservative and neoliberal field. Brazil needs more action from the public sector, not its reduction. Measures for innovation and improvement of state activity should be part of its daily routine. It is unacceptable to use the subterfuge of a necessary and permanent increase in the efficiency of state action to, in fact, reduce its presence and open space for private capital. It is fundamental that the Lula government officially position itself against such reductionist attempts at rights that aim to prevent the public sector from fulfilling its functions in the future.