Social Scientists and Public Administration in the Lula da Silva Government^*

Abstract

We focus here on a new theme among studies on the Social Sciences in Brazil, namely, the presence of social scientists in high-level office in the federal government, whether as directors or advisers. In general, studies on the social sciences in Brazil are devoted to examining the academic profile of their founders, the contents prioritized in the disciplines, processes of institutionalization and methodologies adopted, among other aspects. However, there has never been an examination of the place of the social scientist in the division of labour of the state bureaucracy, in the market and close to those in power. By means of empirical research, we have ascertained that individuals with this academic background have a notable presence in the Lula da Silva government (2003-2006; 2007-). Our hypothesis is that this presence cannot be explained chiefly by the specificity of the knowledge produced by this set of disciplines. Instead, one has to look at other variables, especially social scientists’ link with the public service.

Keywords:
Lula da Silva government; Social Sciences; Burocracy; Public administration