scholarly journals Diminished Expectations

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisha C. Holland
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Original Survey

In Latin America, the relationship between income and support for redistribution is weak and variable despite the region's extreme income inequality. This article shows that this condition is rooted in the truncated structure of many Latin American welfare states. Heavy spending on contributory social insurance for formal-sector workers, flat or regressive subsidies, and informal access barriers mean that social spending does far less for the poor in Latin America than it does in advanced industrial economies. Using public opinion data from across Latin America and original survey data from Colombia, the author demonstrates that income is less predictive of attitudes in the countries and social policy areas in which the poor gain less from social expenditures. Social policy exclusion leads the poor to doubt that they will benefit from redistribution, thereby dampening their support for it. The article reverses an assumption in political economy models that welfare exclusion unleashes demands for greater redistribution. Instead, truncation reinforces skepticism about social policy helping the poor. Welfare state reforms to promote social inclusion are essential to strengthen redistributive coalitions.

scholarly journals Latin America's Social Policy Challenge: Education, Social Insurance, Redistribution

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Levy ◽  
Norbert Schady
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
High Inflation ◽  
Major Transformation ◽  
Policy Challenge ◽  
Challenge Education

Long regarded as a region beset by macroeconomic instability, high inflation, and excessive poverty and inequality, Latin America has undergone a major transformation over the last 20 years. The region has seen improved macroeconomic management and substantial and sustained reductions in poverty and inequality. In this paper, we argue that social policy, including human capital and education, social insurance, and redistribution, need special attention if achievements of the last two decades are to be sustained and amplified. Starting in the mid 1990s, many governments in the region introduced a variety of programs, including noncontributory pensions and health insurance, and cash transfers targeted to the poor. Social spending in Latin America increased sharply. These policies have been widely praised, and we believe they have resulted in substantial improvements in the lives of the poor in the region. However, a more nuanced view shows some worrisome trends. Moving forward, we believe it is necessary to pay much closer attention to the quality of services, particularly in education; to the incentives generated by the interplay of some programs, particularly in the labor market; to a more balanced intertemporal distribution of benefits, particularly between young and old; and to sustainable sources of finance, particularly to the link between contributions and benefits.

Latin America and China’s Transnationalizing Oil Industry: A Political Economy Assessment of New Relations

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 626-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Hogenboom
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Regional Trends ◽  
Rapid Pace ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Changing Attitudes

Chinese oil companies have recently started to set up operations in Latin America, and they are doing this at a rapid pace. This article aims to provide an overview of the increasing flows of oil and capital (fdiand credit) between Latin America and China, and to clarify how they interact with the broader Sino-Latin American relations as well as Latin America’s changing political landscape. In addition to regional trends, the cases of Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador are discussed. The article combines an assessment of factual data with an analysis of the broader political economy context in which these new oil relations operate. Next to national differences, three general tendencies stand out: first, the type of arrangements and coordinated activities that Chinese companies, banks and government agencies deploy differ from those of other large oil-seeking nations; second, while the arrival of Chinese capital is welcomed by Latin American governments and pictured as part of non-imperialist South-South relations, Chinese oil companies and loans are sometimes criticized in local media by scholars, opposition andngos; and third, Chinese oil imports and investments have added to changing attitudes and policies towards strategic sectors under new political regimes, which allows for more social spending but which critics have labeled as the return to an ‘extractivist model.’

scholarly journals IDENTIDAD DE LA TEOLOGÍA LATINOAMERICA Y LA TEOLOGÍA DE LA LIBERACIÓN

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Jorge Costadoat Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Age Of Maturity ◽  
The Status ◽  
Original Speech ◽  
America Latina ◽  
The Church

RESUMEN: El objetivo de esta investigación es suministrar argumentos para identificar la Teología latinoamericana con la Teología de la liberación, y viceversa. Entre estos argumentos se debe considerar la conciencia de alcanzar la “mayoría de edad” de la Iglesia en América Latina en el postconcilio; la convicción de los teólogos de la liberación de estar elaborando una “nueva manera” de hacer teo­logía; una toma de distancia del carácter ilustrado de la teología; y la posibilidad de reconocer en los acontecimientos regionales, particularmente en los pobres, un habla original de Dios. Este artículo pretende hacer una contribución al status quaestionis del método teológico.ABSTRACT: The objective of this paper is to provide arguments to identify Latin American Theology with Liberation Theology, and vice versa. Among these arguments, one should consider the awareness of the Church in Latin America reaching its “age of maturity” in the post-conciliar period. Other arguments are the conviction of liberation theologians to be elaborating a “new way” of doing theology; a distance from the illustrated characteristic of theology; and, the possibility of recognizing in regional events, particularly in the poor, God’s original speech. This article aims to contribute to the status quaestionis of the theological method.

Has Social Policy Expansion in Latin America Reduced Welfare Decommodification and Defamilialisation? Evidence from an Overview of the Mexican Welfare Regime

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-659
Author(s):  
Ricardo Velázquez Leyer
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Welfare Regime ◽  
Regime Theory ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Design And Implementation

Mexican social policy has been transformed in recent years with the introduction and expansion of social assistance programmes, causing a diversion from the trajectory based on social insurance since the first decades of the twentieth century. This article aims to understand the outcomes of that transformation, by applying welfare regime theory to establish how social policy reforms have affected the distribution of welfare responsibilities among the state, markets and families. The research identifies (de)commodification and (de)familialisation outcomes of policy changes in pensions, healthcare, unemployment and family support. Results suggest that the expansion has not produced significant reductions in decommodification or defamilialisation because of: a) the explicit or implicit role assigned to markets in policy design and implementation, and b) the reliance of the process of economic liberalisation on the welfare role performed by families. The case of Mexico may illustrate the current welfare challenges faced by societies across Latin America.

scholarly journals From Fome Zero to Bolsa Família: Social Policies and Poverty Alleviation under Lula

2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 689-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTHONY HALL
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Maternal Nutrition ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Bolsa Familia

Under the administrations of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002) and especially President Lula (2003–), conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes have become adopted as mainstream social policy in Brazil. This follows a marked trend since the 1990s in Latin America towards the setting up of targeted safety nets to alleviate poverty. Lula consolidated and expanded CCTs, firstly under Fome Zero and later Bolsa Família, now the largest such scheme in the world. Its four sub-programmes (educational stipends to boost school attendance, maternal nutrition, food supplements and a domestic gas subsidy) benefit some 30 million of Brazil's poorest people, with a target of 44 million by 2006. Since 2003, spending on Bolsa Família has risen significantly to consume over one-third of the social assistance budget for the poorest sectors and it remained a flagship policy in the run-up to the presidential elections of October 2006. Although coverage of Bolsa Família is impressive, however, systematic evaluation of its social and economic impacts is still lacking. Evidence from other CCT programmes in Latin America suggests that positive results may be achieved in terms of meeting some immediate needs of the poor. However, there have been many implementation problems. These include poor beneficiary targeting, lack of inter-ministerial coordination, inadequate monitoring, clientelism, weak accountability and alleged political bias. Given the heightened profile of cash transfers in Brazil's social policy agenda, key questions need to be asked. These concern, firstly, the extent to which Bolsa Família does indeed contribute to poverty alleviation; and secondly, whether it creates greater dependence of the poor on government hand-outs and political patronage at the expense of long-term social investment for development.

Economic Vulnerability and Partisanship in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (03) ◽  
pp. 80-103
Author(s):  
Melina Altamirano
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Economic Vulnerability ◽  
Social Security Benefits ◽  
Cross National

ABSTRACTA significant proportion of the population in Latin America depends on the informal economy and lacks adequate protection against a variety of economic risks. This article suggests that economic vulnerability affects the way individuals relate to political parties. Given the truncated structure of welfare states in the region, citizens in the informal sector receive lower levels of social security benefits and face higher economic uncertainty. This vulnerability makes it difficult for voters to establish strong programmatic linkages with political parties because partisan platforms and policies do not necessarily represent their interests and needs. Using cross-national microlevel data, this study shows that individuals living in informality are skeptical about state social policy efforts and exhibit weaker partisan attachments. The findings suggest that effective political representation of disadvantaged groups remains a challenge in Latin American democracies.

How do welfare states change? Institutions and their impact on the politics of welfare state reform in Western Europe

2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliano Bonoli ◽  
Bruno Palier
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Unemployment Compensation ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
Overall Resistance ◽  
The Uk

In the 1980s and 1990s West European welfare states were exposed to strong pressures to ‘renovate’, to retrench. However, the European social policy landscape today looks as varied as it did at any time during the 20th century. ‘New institutionalism’ seems particularly helpful to account for the divergent outcomes observed, and it explains the resistance of different structures to change through past commitments, the political weight of welfare constituencies and the inertia of institutional arrangements – in short, through ‘path dependency’. Welfare state institutions play a special role in framing the politics of social reform and can explain trajectories and forms of policy change. The institutional shape of the existing social policy landscape poses a significant constraint on the degree and the direction of change. This approach is applied to welfare state developments in the UK and France, comparing reforms of unemployment compensation, old-age pensions and health care. Both countries have developed welfare states, although with extremely different institutional features. Two institutional effects in particular emerge: schemes that mainly redistribute horizontally and protect the middle classes well are likely to be more resistant against cuts. Their support base is larger and more influential compared with schemes that are targeted on the poor or are so parsimonious as to be insignificant for most of the electorate. The contrast between the overall resistance of French social insurance against cuts and the withering away of its British counterpart is telling. In addition, the involvement of the social partners, and particularly of the labour movement in managing the schemes, seems to provide an obstacle for government sponsored retrenchment exercises.

scholarly journals The Contentious Politics of Social Policy expansion in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3 - Sup2) ◽  
pp. 189-205
Author(s):  
César Guzmán-Concha ◽  
Rossella Ciccia
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfers ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Social Policy Reform ◽  
The Relationship

Latin America witnessed a resurgence of protests during the 1990s and early 2000s. Citizens took to the streets to protest against the liberalization of public services and rising levels of inequalities and poverty. This situation partly changed in the decade of the 2000s when the region experienced a period of sustained social policy expansion intended to extend protections to formerly excluded groups. Did popular mobilization have an influence on the turn toward universalism in Latin American social policy? This paper explores this question by looking at the relationship between protest, the strength of the Left and the adoption of expansive reforms in healthcare, conditional cash transfers and noncontributory pensions. The findings bring support to the idea that protest is a relevant aspect of the politics of social policy reform, although its effects are both sensitive to other characteristics of the political environment and the particular policy dimension considered. 

scholarly journals Transferências de Renda Condicionada na América Latina e Bolsa Família no Brasil: uma discussão sobre desenvolvimentos da política social

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Carolina Alves Vestena
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Political Spectrum

ResumoNos últimos, transformações têm sido observadas no espectro político latino-americano, o que se reflete também na condução das políticas sociais na região. Exemplo disso, no caso brasileiro, são as recentes mudanças no programa Bolsa Família, uma das políticas mais reconhecidas internacionalmente neste âmbito. Nesse sentido, o presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar uma análise do perfil do programa em sua elaboração e no interior do contexto latino-americano das políticas de transferência de renda. Assim, permite refletir sobre o paradigma de política social presente no continente e suas influências no modelo brasileiro. A partir de levantamento teórico sobre as políticas sociais na região e de dados empíricos sobre seus impactos, são destacadas as tendências de desenvolvimento observadas e discute-se o papel desempenhado pela política social hegemônica nos últimos anos no Brasil.Palavras-chaves: Bolsa Família, transferência de renda condicionada, América Latina, política social.***Las Transferencias de Renta Condicionadas en América Latina y Bolsa Familia en Brasil: una discusión sobre los desarrollos de la política socialResumenEn los últimos, se han observado cambios en el espectro político de América Latina, lo que se refleja también en la gestión de las políticas sociales en la región. Ejemplo, en Brasil, son los recientes cambios en el programa Bolsa Familia, una de las políticas más reconocidas internacionalmente en este ámbito. En este sentido, este artículo tiene por objetivo presentar un análisis del perfil del programa en su preparación y en el contexto latinoamericano de las políticas de transferencia de renta. Así, que permite reflexionar sobre el paradigma de la política social en el continente y sus influencias en el modelo brasileño. De la investigación teórica sobre las políticas sociales de la región y los datos empíricos sobre su impacto se ponen de relieve las tendencias de desarrollo observadas y se discute el papel de la política social hegemónica en los últimos años en Brasil.Palabras claves: Bolsa Familia, transferencia de renta condicionada, América Latina, política social.***Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America and Bolsa Família Program in Brazil: a discussion on development of social policiesAbstractIn the last years, changes have been observed in the Latin American political spectrum, which also has reflects on the social policies in the region. The recent changes in the Bolsa Família program in Brazil, one of the most internationally recognized policies in this area, exemplify these transformations. Hereof this article aims to present an analysis of the Bolsa Família profile in its implementation and within the Latin American context of cash transfer policies. From this perspective it is possible to analyze the paradigm of social policy on the continent and its influences on the Brazilian model. From theoretical research on social policies in the region and empirical data on their impact, the development trends and the role of the hegemonic social policy in recent years in Brazil will be highlighted and discussed.Keywords: Bolsa Família, conditional cash transfer, Latin America, social policy. 

Labour informality may increase in Latin America

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Surplus Labour ◽  
Low Levels

Subject The informal sector in Latin America. Significance The scale of informality in Latin American labour markets is widely seen as the main reason for the region's low levels of labour productivity; consequently, policymakers seek ways to induce a transfer of labour towards the formal sector where, in addition, workers come within the tax net. However, in spite of a decade of growth in the region, levels of informality have remained stubbornly high. Impacts A reduction in informality could increase the number of taxpayers and thus revenues. Tighter migration policies in the United States could limit options for surplus labour to relocate elsewhere. Lower birth rates will slow the number of new entrants into the labour market overall.

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