John Rawls was a political philosopher concerned with social justice, specifically the best way that society could be structured so that individual rights and duties were fairly distributed amongst everyone and division of advantages from social cooperation were optimally determined. He believed that this conception of justice rested in principles that would be agreed upon by free, self-interested and rational persons in a starting position of equality and fairness. The principles of the theory of justice are ones that are meant to enable this group of people to cooperate with each other while recognizing that individuals in the group both share the same interests and have conflicting interests. These principles can be understood as underlying our most strongly held ethical beliefs – the ones that exhibit our ability to make the right moral decisions. This paper explains Rawls’ theory of justice, Justice as Fairness, considers an alternative known as “mixed conception” and offers Rawls’ response to the alternative before delving deeper into the debate to understand whether Rawls’ theory of a “mixed conception” should be chosen for a society. Rawls was a notoriously difficult writer so this thesis spends a significant amount of time trying to explicate his views and arguments. With that being said, this thesis does miss out on some key secondary details but hopes to give a clear and compelling picture of his theory, especially the parts that relate to the debate. The debate centers on the choice between the difference principle, which calls for society to maximize the prospects of the least advantaged, and the social minimum principle, which has society set a social minimum that would allow citizens to lead decent lives and take measures necessary to ensure everyone can reach that minimum. In the end, I reach the conclusion that the social minimum principle, in combination with some of Rawls’ other principles, should be used as one of the main principles of justice in society.

A tese tem a intenção de promover um estudo sobre a efetivação do mínimo existencial pelas normas que regulam a atividade financeira do Estado, mediante uma articulação entre os fundamentos e objetivos fundamentais da república, os direitos fundamentais sociais e os subsistemas financeiro e tributário na Constituição Federal de 1988. A ideia principal é explorar os instrumentos fiscais e financeiros aptos a garantir a efetivação dos direitos sociais individuais (dimensão do mínimo existencial), o que é considerado vital para a superação do subdesenvolvimento brasileiro (relação entre direitos sociais e atividade financeira do Estado). Partindo da constatação de que o Brasil apresenta índices de desenvolvimento humano baixos em comparação à sua riqueza, a tese refutará importações acríticas das concepções de Estado atualmente praticadas em países desenvolvidos, para analisar a função que os direitos sociais previstos na Constituição Federal têm na realidade brasileira atual, bem como qual é o grau de efetividade desses direitos que é exigido pela Constituição. Com base nisso, a tese fará uma ligação entre direitos sociais e a atividade financeira do Estado, de modo a detectar pontos de intersecção entre esses subdomínios e entender de que forma as normas fiscais e financeiras podem dar efetividade ao mínimo existencial. Para tanto, no decorrer do trabalho será feita uma releitura dos diversos instrumentos tributários e financeiros aptos a dar efetividade a direitos sociais, tais como: (a) a competência tributária, (b) os princípios constitucionais tributários (capacidade contributiva, seletividade e não-confisco) e (c) os limites constitucionais orçamentários (orçamento da seguridade social, despesas mínimas com educação e saúde e fundos constitucionais), em nível constitucional, e (d) as desonerações fiscais e (e) as leis orçamentárias em nível infraconstitucional. Por fim, será feita uma crítica se o Estado brasileiro vem ou não manejando corretamente esses instrumentos. / The thesis draws upon the effectiveness of the fundamental rights related to the social minimum through the rules that regulate the financial activity of the Brazilian State, considering both tax and budgetary legislation. The study will be based on a joint interpretation of the foundations and fundamental objectives of the republic, the social fundamental rights and the budgetary and tax systems of the Brazilian Federal Constitution. The main idea is to exploit the tax and budgetary instruments able to ensure the fulfillment of social individual rights (social minimum dimension), which is considered vital to overcome the Brazilian underdevelopment status (relation between social rights and financial activity of the State). Starting from the fact that Brazil has low human development indices in comparison to its wealth (Gross Domestic Product), the thesis will refuse of uncritical importation of conceptions of State currently applied in developed countries, in order to examine the role that social rights currently have before the Brazilian social reality, as well as the degree of effectiveness of such rights that is required by the Constitution. Based on this, the thesis will establish a connection between social rights and financial activity of the State, in order to detect the intersectional points between these areas and understand how the tax and budgetary laws could bring effectiveness to the social minimum. To achieve that, this work will try to reinterpret tax and budgetary instruments that could be able to give effect to social rights, such as: (a) the power to tax, (b) tax principles (ability to pay, selectivity and non-confiscation) and (c) the constitutional budget limitations (social security budget, minimum expenditures on education and health and constitutional funds), in constitutional level, and (d) the tax exemptions and (e) the budgetary laws. Finally, this work will launch a critic on the way that the Brazilian Government has been using such tools in order to achieve its social responsibility before the people.

A tese tem a intenção de promover um estudo sobre a efetivação do mínimo existencial pelas normas que regulam a atividade financeira do Estado, mediante uma articulação entre os fundamentos e objetivos fundamentais da república, os direitos fundamentais sociais e os subsistemas financeiro e tributário na Constituição Federal de 1988. A ideia principal é explorar os instrumentos fiscais e financeiros aptos a garantir a efetivação dos direitos sociais individuais (dimensão do mínimo existencial), o que é considerado vital para a superação do subdesenvolvimento brasileiro (relação entre direitos sociais e atividade financeira do Estado). Partindo da constatação de que o Brasil apresenta índices de desenvolvimento humano baixos em comparação à sua riqueza, a tese refutará importações acríticas das concepções de Estado atualmente praticadas em países desenvolvidos, para analisar a função que os direitos sociais previstos na Constituição Federal têm na realidade brasileira atual, bem como qual é o grau de efetividade desses direitos que é exigido pela Constituição. Com base nisso, a tese fará uma ligação entre direitos sociais e a atividade financeira do Estado, de modo a detectar pontos de intersecção entre esses subdomínios e entender de que forma as normas fiscais e financeiras podem dar efetividade ao mínimo existencial. Para tanto, no decorrer do trabalho será feita uma releitura dos diversos instrumentos tributários e financeiros aptos a dar efetividade a direitos sociais, tais como: (a) a competência tributária, (b) os princípios constitucionais tributários (capacidade contributiva, seletividade e não-confisco) e (c) os limites constitucionais orçamentários (orçamento da seguridade social, despesas mínimas com educação e saúde e fundos constitucionais), em nível constitucional, e (d) as desonerações fiscais e (e) as leis orçamentárias em nível infraconstitucional. Por fim, será feita uma crítica se o Estado brasileiro vem ou não manejando corretamente esses instrumentos. / The thesis draws upon the effectiveness of the fundamental rights related to the social minimum through the rules that regulate the financial activity of the Brazilian State, considering both tax and budgetary legislation. The study will be based on a joint interpretation of the foundations and fundamental objectives of the republic, the social fundamental rights and the budgetary and tax systems of the Brazilian Federal Constitution. The main idea is to exploit the tax and budgetary instruments able to ensure the fulfillment of social individual rights (social minimum dimension), which is considered vital to overcome the Brazilian underdevelopment status (relation between social rights and financial activity of the State). Starting from the fact that Brazil has low human development indices in comparison to its wealth (Gross Domestic Product), the thesis will refuse of uncritical importation of conceptions of State currently applied in developed countries, in order to examine the role that social rights currently have before the Brazilian social reality, as well as the degree of effectiveness of such rights that is required by the Constitution. Based on this, the thesis will establish a connection between social rights and financial activity of the State, in order to detect the intersectional points between these areas and understand how the tax and budgetary laws could bring effectiveness to the social minimum. To achieve that, this work will try to reinterpret tax and budgetary instruments that could be able to give effect to social rights, such as: (a) the power to tax, (b) tax principles (ability to pay, selectivity and non-confiscation) and (c) the constitutional budget limitations (social security budget, minimum expenditures on education and health and constitutional funds), in constitutional level, and (d) the tax exemptions and (e) the budgetary laws. Finally, this work will launch a critic on the way that the Brazilian Government has been using such tools in order to achieve its social responsibility before the people.