Novo Pacto Social : As apropriações dos conceitos de Constitucionalismo e Contratualismo o processo de construção da nação no Brasil (1820- 1831)

Abstract

The aim of this work is to understand constitutionalism and contractualism by analyzing the concept of "social pact"(or social contract ) and its operability in the process of construction of the Brazilian national State. We also seek to present an appropriation of the concept of social pact and others linked to it, in elites in the parliament and in the press. We consider an idea that Brazilian contractualism and constitutionalism have been diffused and often confused, in the foundation of the Brazilian State, through the appropriation of European ideas and it different re-elaborations. We used as sources for this work the periodicals A Aurora Fluminense (1827-1831) and Conciliador (1821-1823), besides the Anais da Câmara dos Deputados (1826-1831). We perform an analysis of the sources, seeking as conceptions and layers of meaning of the concept of social pact and its correlates. We emphasize the relevance of the analysis of these sources to understand how these political-social actors, members of the political and intellectual elites, use this concepts studied. The history of concepts is the principal theoretical-methodological reference of this work.