Why could the Minha Casa Minha Vida Program only have happened in a government headed by the Labor Party?

Abstract

Since the Labor Party has been governing Brazil, there has been a double agenda for the housing policy: the first one is linked to the urban reform platform, with a forecast of decentralization and participatory management, and the second is embodied in the premise of restructuring of the real estate sector, structured in an exclusive housing policy with private promotion and public funding. This governance model has ensured the distribution of benefits to both coalitions representing these agendas, and has legitimized the housing policy within the public agenda. In this paper, we analyze the trajectory of the main housing program developed in this period (MCMV), discussing its implications to the right to housing and the role of actors in the housing sector within this context.