The Social Protection Policy in the Context of Crisis. an Analysis Portugal/Brazil

The Social Protection systems in Brazil and Portugal have their genesis in different realities despite the historical ties between the two nations. The objective of this study is to analyze the concept of social protection as a public policy relating to the socio-economic crisis context in both countries. As methodological procedure a literature review of the academic knowledge produced on this subject (books, scientific articles and other research papers) was conducted to produce scientific material through the analysis, organization and interpretation of the information collected. We used as a means of understanding the concept of Social Protection the Beveridge classic model, determinant for the universalization of social rights for all citizens, with or without conditions (but with a minimum guarantee) as well as the notion of contract established by Bismark which guarantees the coverage of social rights especially for the working class (Boshetti, 2003). To this end, we describe the historical trajectory of social protection policies, influenced by a change in ideological orientation of Brazilian politics from the emergence of Lula da Silva – The Workers Party - in 2003 and for the integration  of Portugal into European Community in particular the period after the circulation of the single currency of the  Euro - in 2002 to define and contextualize the different trajectory of social protection policies within the public structure of each country. We identified in this sense differences in scientific reference areas compared to the academic allegations made in the period of the 2008 crisis (an updated picture of the dominant scientific notions that point to a hegemony or disagreement in the discourse established on this material).