Abstract (Translated):
This essay inquires into the characteristics and historical possibilities of a Developmental State built on democracy, in opposition to the East Asian Developmental State historical model. After a brief introduction, this model and the capitalism development the underdeveloped peoples crave are interpreted and subjected to a critical evaluation. The answer to the criticisms is made in two levels: the reframing of development and the perspective of a new historical model of a Democratic State for Development. The endogenous development (Celso Furtado) is explained as an alternative of social change in which popular mobilization provokes the expansion of human capabilities (Amarty Sen) through market democratization and deepening democracy (Mangabeira Unger). The Democratic State for Development (DSD) is defined by redesigned developmental functions and institutional innovations that can make endogenous development feasible. The social bases and ideological foundations that can endorse the DSD historical pattern are identified to point the historical possibility of a constructive convergence of popular social forces and "humanist" ideologies in some countries of the periphery. The essay concludes indicating ways to make feasible a simultaneous program of State and society transformation, envisioning the overcoming of underdevelopment and the confrontation of contemporary capitalism contradictions.