Federalism, Universal Social Protection, and the Politics of Vertical Policy Diffusion in Canada, Mexico, and the United States

• In Event: Towards universal social policy trajectories in Latin America? Reach, determinants and implications. Part 3.

Abstract

There is a lot of research on both federalism and social policy, on one hand, and universal social programs, on the other. However, less common is comparative policy research that combines a discussion of federalism and policy diffusion with an analysis of social policy universality, understood as a policy principle that aims to extend social benefits to cover the entire population or all the members of a certain age group (e.g. the elderly) in a given society. In this paper, we explore what we call vertical policy diffusion between the sub-state and the federal level as it intersects with universal social protection. More specifically, we discuss three cases: the creation of universal childcare in Quebec and its impact on Canadian federal social policy; the advent of near-universal health coverage in Massachusetts (known as Romneycare) and its impact on federal health care reform (the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare), and the adoption of universal non-contributory pensions in the federal district of Mexico and its impact on Mexican federal-level social policy. Focusing on the role of policy ideas and political institutions in each national and subnational setting, the paper explains why the first case had limited impact on federal policy, while the two others helped pave the road to major, national social policy reforms in their respective countries.

Authors

• Daniel Beland, University of Saskatchewan

• Anahely Medrano