Making the Newest Citizens: Achieving Universal Birth Registration in Contemporary Brazil |
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Authors: | Wendy Hunter Natasha Borges Sugiyama |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA;2. Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA |
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Abstract: | Identity documentation is essential to secure the rights, benefits, and services that modern states provide. Historically, significant numbers of poor Brazilians lacked core documents, beginning with a birth certificate. In recent years the government has conducted a campaign to rectify this situation. We explore why the state left so many Brazilians without a birth certificate previously and why it became intent on registering all births, as reflected in recent efforts to facilitate the process. Key in this regard is the movement from a social policy orientation that excluded poor Brazilians in the informal sector to one aimed at including them. |
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