(Ana Marta

Resumo As políticas públicas desenvolvidas ao longo dos últimos 30 anos em Portugal encontram os seus fundamentos na Constituição aprovada em 1976 e nas suas sucessivas revisões. A inscrição constitucional da obrigação do estado de promover políticas públicas para assegurar a construção do estado social, garantindo a todos os cidadãos a protecção social, a saúde e a educação, resultou de compromissos político-partidários que foram decisivos para a construção dos serviços públicos universais e gratuitos que hoje conhecemos.Palavras-chave: políticas públicas, Constituição, Portugal, estado social, Fórum das Politicas Públicas.Abstract The legal foundation for the public policies developed and pursued in Portugal over the last 30 years is the 1976 Constitution and its successive revisions. The inclusion in the Constitution of an obligation on the part of the state to promote and organise public policies designed to construct a welfare state, guaranteeing social protection, healthcare and education for all, was the result of party political commitments that were decisive elements in the creation and consolidation of the free and universal public services we know today.Keywords: public policies, Constitution, Portugal, welfare state, Public Policy Forum.Résumé Les politiques publiques mises en oeuvre au long des 30 dernières années au Portugal sont fondées sur la Constitution adoptée en 1976 et ses révisions successives. L'inscription constitutionnelle de l'obligation de l'État de promouvoir des politiques publiques pour assurer la construction de l'État social, en garantissant à tous les citoyens la protection, la santé et l'éducation, est le fruit d'engagements politiques qui furent décisifs pour la construction des services publics universels et gratuits que nous connaissons aujourd'hui.

Resumo Neste artigo discutimos de que forma a Constituição da República Portuguesa enformou as escolhas políticas presentes na definição do estado social democrático e de que modo os princípios constitucionais se fazem refletir na arquitetura do sistema e se foram alterando ao longo do tempo. Argumentamos que, aquando da transição para a democracia, ao contrário de outras áreas de políticas sociais, a segurança social manteve princípios organizadores anteriores. Contudo, esta resiliência da matriz bismarckiana do sistema português não foi impeditiva da expansão da proteção social portuguesa de acordo com princípios universais e concedeu aos sucessivos governos margem de manobra para definirem políticas programaticamente distintas e implementarem estratégias reformistas diferenciadas. Concluímos argumentando que, se bem que a Constituição não tenha sido um limite intransponível para a ação política dos executivos, esta tem operado de facto como um ponto de veto, nomeadamente pela forma como o Tribunal Constitucional tem defendido o direito à proteção social, seja numa lógica de seguro social, seja na sua vertente de mínimos sociais.Palavras-chave: estado social, Constituição, europeização.Abstract This article discusses the ways in which the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic has embodied to the political choices made during the process of creating and defining a democratic welfare state and how the various constitutional principles are reflected in the architecture of the system and have gradually changed over the years. The authors argue that when Portugal transitioned to democracy, unlike other areas of the country's social policies the social security system retained some of its earlier organising principles. Having said this, this resilience on the part of the Portuguese system's Bismarckian template has not prevented social protection from expanding here in accordance with universal principles, and has given successive governments manoeuvring room in which to define programmatically distinct policies and implement differentiated reformist strategies. The paper concludes by arguing that while the Constitution has not placed an insurmountable limit on governments' political action, it has served as a point of veto, namely by means of the way in which the Constitutional Court has defended the right to social protection, be it in the form of social insurance, be it in the imposition of certain social minima.Keywords: welfare state, Constitution, Europeanisation.Résumé Cet article cherche à savoir comment la Constitution portugaise a influencé les choix politiques présents dans la définition de l'État social démocratique et de quelle façon les principes constitutionnels se reflètent dans l'architecture du système et ont changé au fil du temps. L'auteur soutient que lors de l'instauration de la démocratie, contrairement à d'autres domaines de politiques sociales, la sécurité sociale a gardé d'anciens principes d'organisation. Cependant, cette résilience de la matrice bismarckienne du système portugais n'a pa...

This article analyses how three different instruments of European social policy have been implemented in Portugal. I claim that the reasons for compliance rest in the combination of a favourable context created by a strong European legacy in domestic policies, with the convergence between the European pressure and the domestic policy agenda in policy arenas, whose characteristics facilitate policy change. I make the case that there is no dualism between a politicisation and a socialisation approach to the Europeanisation of domestic public polices. When compliance occurs, both mechanisms are present. Responses to European pressures reflect both the introduction of new incentive structures and the creation of new patterns of social relations. This is particularly true for European social policies. Those resources have a delayed effect by formatting policy arenas and giving meaning to certain incentives and providing a social context in which pressures are perceived to be cost-effective and legitimate. There is no relation between a priori convergence capacity of European policy instruments and their de facto effectiveness − the distinctive traits of each is central to understand the extent to which EU policy initiatives mobilise domestic coalitions, which prove decisive for the resistance of policy innovation.

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