Can democracy work for the poor?

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 369 (6508) ◽  
pp. 1188-1192
Author(s):  
Rohini Pande
Keyword(s):  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Extreme Poverty ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Redistributive Policies ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Catch 22

Millions of the world’s poorest people now live in middle-income democracies that, in theory, could use their resources to end extreme poverty. However, citizens in those countries have not succeeded in using the vote to ensure adequate progressive redistribution. Interventions aiming to provide the economically vulnerable with needed resources must go beyond assisting them directly, they must also improve democratic institutions so that vulnerable populations themselves can push their representatives to implement redistributive policies. Here, I review the literature on such interventions and then consider the “democracy catch-22”: How can the poor secure greater democratic influence when the existing democratic playing field is tilted against them?

scholarly journals The Structure of Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
NOAM LUPU ◽  
JONAS PONTUSSON
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Lower Half ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Present Survey ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Redistributive Policies ◽  
Preferences For Redistribution ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Advanced Capitalist

Against the current consensus among comparative political economists, we argue that inequality matters for redistributive politics in advanced capitalist societies, but it is the structure of inequality, not the level of inequality, that matters. Our theory posits that middle-income voters will be inclined to ally with low-income voters and support redistributive policies when the distance between the middle and the poor is small relative to the distance between the middle and the rich. We test this proposition with data from 15 to 18 advanced democracies and find that both redistribution and nonelderly social spending increase as the dispersion of earnings in the upper half of the distribution increases relative to the dispersion of earnings in the lower half of the distribution. In addition, we present survey evidence on preferences for redistribution among middle-income voters that is consistent with our theory and regression results indicating that left parties are more likely to participate in government when the structure of inequality is characterized by skew.

scholarly journals Ending Global Poverty: Why Money Isn’t Enough

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Page ◽  
Rohini Pande
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Extreme Poverty ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Physical Infrastructure ◽  
Global Population

Between 1981 and 2013, the share of the global population living in extreme poverty fell by 34 percentage points. This paper argues that such rapid reductions will become increasingly hard to achieve for two reasons. First, the majority of the poor now live in middle-income countries where the benefits of growth have often been distributed selectively and unequally. Second, a reservoir of extreme poverty remains in low-income countries where growth is erratic and aid often fails to reach the poor. If the international community is to most effectively leverage available resources to end extreme poverty, it must ensure that its investments in institutions and physical infrastructure actually provide the poor the capabilities they need to craft an effective pathway out of poverty. We term the human and social systems that are required to form this pathway “invisible infrastructure” and argue that an effective domestic state is central to building this. By corollary, ending extreme poverty will require both expanding state capacity and giving the poor power to demand reforms they need by solving agency problems between citizens, politicians, and bureaucrats.

scholarly journals Context matters in understanding the vulnerability of women: perspectives from southwestern Uganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neema Murembe ◽  
Teddy Kyomuhangi ◽  
Kimberly Manalili ◽  
Florence Beinempaka ◽  
Primrose Nakazibwe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Extreme Poverty ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
The People ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Southwestern Uganda

Abstract Background Vulnerability at the individual, family, community or organization level affects access and utilization of health services, and is a key consideration for health equity. Several frameworks have been used to explore the concept of vulnerability and identified demographics including ethnicity, economic class, level of education, and geographical location. While the magnitude of vulnerable populations is not clearly documented and understood, specific indicators, such as extreme poverty, show that vulnerability among women is pervasive. Women in low and middle-income countries often do not control economic resources and are culturally disadvantaged, which exacerbates other vulnerabilities they experience. In this commentary, we explore the different understandings of vulnerability and the importance of engaging communities in defining vulnerability for research, as well as for programming and provision of maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) services. Methodology In a recent community-based qualitative study, we examined the healthcare utilization experiences of vulnerable women with MNCH services in rural southwestern Uganda. Focus group discussions were conducted with community leaders and community health workers in two districts of Southwestern Uganda. In addition, we did individual interviews with women living in extreme poverty and having other conventional vulnerability characteristics. Findings and discussion We found that the traditional criteria of vulnerability were insufficient to identify categories of vulnerable women to target in the context of MNCH programming and service provision in resource-limited settings. Through our engagement with communities and through the narratives of the people we interviewed, we obtained insight into how nuanced vulnerability can be, and how important it is to ground definitions of vulnerability within the specific context. We identified additional aspects of vulnerability through this study, including: women who suffer from alcoholism or have husbands with alcoholism, women with a history of home births, women that have given birth only to girls, and those living on fishing sites. Conclusion Engaging communities in defining vulnerability is critical for the effective design, implementation and monitoring of MNCH programs, as it ensures these services are reaching those who are most in need.

An Empirical Investigation of the income share of the middle class

2019 ◽  
pp. 50-65
Author(s):  
Francesco Farina ◽  
Chiara Assunta Ricci
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Reverse Causality ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Income Share ◽  
Redistributive Policies ◽  
Directional Relation ◽  
Middle Income Group ◽  
Income Dispersion

The scientific evaluation of the relationship between growth, redistribution, and the income share of the middle class is still in its infancy. This article aims to investigate how the drivers of economic growth impinge on market income distribution and how the middle class has a role in deciding the level of redistribution. Our strategy is to dodge the reverse causality problem, stemming from the bi-directional relation between income distribution and growth, by exploiting the peculiar feature of different indicators of income dispersion focused on the middle income group. The findings reveal that market forces and redistributive policies are both pivotal in shaping the evolution of income dispersion and in particular the income share of the middle class, over the growth process. The ability of redistributive policies to counteract the ongoing increase in income inequality seems to depend not only on the political pressure exerted by an impoverishing median voter but also on the expansion of fiscal revenues after sustained Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

Children Living in Poverty: Their Perception of Career Opportunities

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Weinger
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Career Path ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Projective Techniques ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Poor Children

Growing up in poverty often diminishes a child's opportunity to pursue a rewarding career path. This qualitative study explored whether poor children are aware that their wealthier peers' chances for success may be greater than their own. Projective techniques employing photographs of two houses representing poor and middle-income families were used to interview twenty-four children between the ages of five and thirteen years, divided equally between white and African Americans. These respondents perceived that society provides better future job opportunities to nonpoor children while limiting those of the poor. Although respondents suggested that they and their friends could be exceptions to these limitations, indications of their beginning feelings of hopelessness were revealed. The author proposes strategies to assist in strengthening poor children's belief in themselves and their future.

scholarly journals Understanding How Socioeconomic Inequalities Drive Inequalities In COVID-19 Infections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachid Laajaj ◽  
Duncan Webb ◽  
Danilo Aristizabal ◽  
Eduardo Behrentz ◽  
Raquel Bernal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
The Poor

Abstract Background: Across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected economically disadvantaged groups. This differential impact has numerous possible explanations, each with significantly different policy implications. We examine, for the first time in a low- or middle-income country, which mechanisms best explain the disproportionate impact of the virus on the poor. Methods: We use primary data from the CoVIDA project, including the results of 59,770 RT-PCR tests in Bogotá, targeted on a mostly asymptomatic adult population June 2020 to March 3rd, 2021. This is combined with administrative data that covers all reported cases in Bogotá. We estimate a number of parameters that are likely to drive inequality in COVID-19 infection rates across socioeconomic groups, then use these estimates in an individual-level branching process model of the epidemic. We use counterfactual scenarios to estimate the relative importance of different channels for explaining inequality in infection rates. Findings: Total infections and inequalities in infections are largely driven by inequalities in the ability to work remotely and in within-home secondary attack rates. Inequalities in isolation behavior are less important but non-negligible, while access to testing and contract-tracing plays practically no role. Interventions that mitigate transmission are found to be more effective when targeted on socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.Interpretation: Socioeconomically disadvantaged groups are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infections, and this appears to be primarily driven by the need to work out of home, higher transmission within home, and to some extent, the ability to isolate when needed. Policies that can successfully reduce these channels of transmission among the poor are likely to have large benefits.

scholarly journals Malaysia's Multidimensional Efforts to Implement New Innovation Paradigms

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12S2) ◽  
pp. 445-451
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Rate ◽  
Access To Services ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
The Government ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Innovation Paradigms ◽  
Government Innovation

Malaysia is one of the developing countries which has the fastest growth rate. It is in its last miles to achieve its goal to become a high-income advanced nation by 2020. The country has enormously reduced its poverty rate and curtailed its inequality gap shaped by various policies and initiatives. With the rate of the poor is now less than one percent, the focus has reoriented to elevate the bottom 40 percent (B40) households to middle-income households. Various initiatives have been strategised to address the B40 which also include innovation initiatives that are aimed at addressing the marginalised in Malaysia. The initiatives seek to provide the marginalised with better access to services and products and job opportunities by empowering them to contribute to society. Hence, this paper seeks to take stock the government policy measures as well as the initiatives by reviewing the relevant documents. The findings show that the existing government innovation efforts are aligned with the national and global agenda on sustainable development, where inclusivity and sustainability remain as its main agenda. The authors proposed an integrated framework of implementation to serve as a tool to guide policymakers for better implementation in the future

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