DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE POLICY IN TIMES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

This article is a theoretical-practical study and aims to reflect on democratic management and Social Assistance Policy, especially in times of health and economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 Pandemic. The effects of the health crisis highlighted the fragility of social protection systems in the world, leading economic powers to organize themselves politically and economically in an attempt to ensure capitalist accumulation. In Brazil, governed by the ultra neoliberal extreme right, the effects of the crisis have been plaguing the working class, especially the segments dependent on social public policies. However, in a context of dismantling social rights, Social Assistance has been implementing work processes that are far from the reality experienced by the user population. Thus, it is necessary to strengthen democratic management within the scope of Social Assistance, as a public social policy, responsible for offering social protection at its different levels of action.