Birth Registration and State Modernization: The Case of Brazil

• In Event: Identity Documents as a Determinant or Inclusion or Exclusion in Latin America

Abstract

Over the course of the twentieth century, identity documents, especially the documentation of the particulars of one's birth, have become increasingly important to the relations between states and their citizens. Yet the process by which the obtaining and presenting of documents becomes normalized has been little-studied. Using time-series analysis of a century of birth registration data from Brazil (1900-2014), this article presents quantitative evidence that the normalization of documentation proceeds from efforts at incorporation, state-building, and especially from the development of a universalist welfare state. Birth registration coverage shows clear response to the introduction of the corporatist welfare projects in the Estado Novo era, to the creation of a rural “solidarity” pension during military rule, and most recently (and resulting in complete coverage) to the institution of the Family Allowance (Bolsa Família) and the Continuous Welfare Benefit (Benefício de Prestação Continuada). These policy effects are independent of the appearances of facilitating technology, reductions in infant mortality, and several measures of the quality of governance in the country. This evidence will have broader applicability as the process repeats itself in less-developed countries where individualized welfare states are currently emerging.

Author

• Robert Brill, Cornell Univeristy