Resumo

MAINGON, THAIS. Política social en Venezuela: 1999-2003. CDC [online]. 2004, vol.21, n.55, pp.49-75. ISSN 1012-2508.

The main objective of this paper is to contribute to understand the main aspects of the social policy carried out during the present Venezuelan government. It assumes that the current conception of social policy maintains the general patterns of intervention of the State that had been defined in previous decades. The first part presents, briefly, the initiatives taken by the Venezuelan State in social policies during the 80´s and 90´s. The second part, tries to reach the actual government’s conception of social policies by characterizing and discussing the proposals that were developed, according to what was stated in the 1999 Constitution. Finally, some comments and observations on the Venezuelan State’s social policies continuities and changes are presented.

Palavras-chave : Social policy; Social programs; Social aid; Focalization; Venezuela.