PRINCIPLE OF SOLIDARITY IN BRAZILIAN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Abstract

From a sociological standpoint, every society requires a certain degree of cohesion among its members, which necessarily implies some form of solidarity. In legal terms, however, it is possible to identify societies where solidarity is absent and indifference to the suffering of others prevails. In such contexts, assistance to those in need arises from charity, an individual and voluntary initiative, rather than from solidarity as a collective social responsibility. The Brazilian Constitution explicitly establishes the objective of building a solidary society, thereby implicitly recognizing that Brazilian society is, from a legal perspective, non-solidary by default. The social security system functions as the institutional mechanism through which the State seeks to instill solidarity into the legal and social fabric. Consequently, constitutional amendments that undermine this system must be considered invalid. In the field of administrative law, the regulatory State model is fundamentally at odds with the constitutional project of a solidary society. Moreover, the legal framework governing public services must be interpreted in accordance with the principle of social solidarity enshrined in the Constitution.