System of social protection in the Lula government (2003-2010): Change or continuity in the pattern of state intervention in society?

This article is part of the debate on State and social policy and analyzes the legacy of the Lula government (2003-2010) as a continuation or change related to the neoliberal model implemented by the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (regressive model), regarding the system of social protection as a form of state intervention in society. Based on specialized bibliography, we talk with representatives of the thesis of "continuity" and "discontinuity" of social policy and the state model in the government in question. We argue that the same was true of the struggle between progressive forces (defenders of principles associated with a specific regime of a welfare state) and conservative forces (defenders of principles associated with minimal state), the latter were victorious in determining of the social policies of the Lula governments, consolidating, through these, a model of neoliberal intervention of the State in its relations with society.