The Politics of Redistribution in the Global South

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In the last two decades redistributive social policies have expanded rapidly in the global south. In some developing countries—Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, among many others—around half of the population is covered by non-contributory cash transfers, while only an average of 12% of European citizens benefit from such programs. Workers have also won substantial raises in the minimum wage in countries ranging from Indonesia, Turkey, and Bangladesh to Egypt and Algeria. These developments are surprising because developing nations mostly lack the governance capacity to implement progressive social policies, and there is no consensus on whether poor citizens in these countries support governments’ redistribution efforts. Why, then, are some developing nations investing in redistributive social provision in this era of retrenchment? Under what conditions do governments provide, and the poor support, redistributive policies? The collection of papers in this panel explores these critical but understudied questions by analyzing the trends in social welfare provision across the developing world. The contributors investigate how social movements, regime type, and electoral competition determine the adoption and evolution of social provision in the global south and systematically analyze individual-level data to pinpoint the conditions conducive of support for redistribution among the poor in developing nations.

Sub Unit

• Division 12: Comparative Politics of Developing Countries

Individual Presentations

• Social Policy Expansion, Continuity, and Change in Latin America - Candelaria Garay, Harvard University; Emilia Simison, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• The Politics Minimum Wage in Indonesia and Turkey - Teri L. Caraway, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Ibrahim Oker, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

• The Politics of Social Protection: Evidence from Kenya on Cash Transfers - Ken Ochieng' Opalo, Georgetown University

• Inequality, Violence and Democratic Development in South Africa - Sarah M. Brooks, Ohio State University; Marianne Sandvad Ulriksen, Aarhus University

Chair

• Candelaria Garay Harvard University

Discussants

• Nita Rudra Georgetown University

• Stephan Haggard University of California, San Diego