The State influences several social and political dynamics in Brazil, and even though the Brazilian social thinking has constantly focused on it, we know very little about its internal dynamics. This article intends to contribute to filling such gap, presenting results from recent investigations using social network analysis. Social network analysis is a recent and wide research field, but it has not been very much developed in Brazil until the moment. Existing studies, however, have explored in an innovative way the internal dynamics of the State, as well as its relationships with other social actors, demonstrating the importance for politics of the "State fabric" - its internal relational structure. This article presents results from two recent investigations about urban public policies, discussing their analytical contributions considering the most important interpretations of the topic.
State; Social networks; Public policies; Politic dynamic
