11. Why and How to Build Universal Social Policy in the South

The Two Faces of Support for Redistribution in Colombia: Taxing the Wealthy or Assisting People in Need

“…Although support for redistribution are likely to be positively correlated to social spending in Anglosaxon countries (Alesina and Angeleto, 2005 ); in Latin America, redistributive policies are also constrained by international financial institutions that feed market inequality (Morgan and Kelly, 2013 ). As such, support for redistribution in Latin America is not only related to people's awareness of inequality or direct endorsement of redistributive policies, but it is also affected by a long-standing beliefs and policies that discredit social spending under neoliberal agendas that has created a political architecture that discourages the social safety net (Franzoni and Sánchez-Ancochea, 2018 ). Thus, support for redistribution can be an ideological measure related to political identities and symbolic components rather than to “rational” self-serving public policies preferences (Brandt et al, 2019 ).…”

Subnational policy innovation: The birth of social pensions in Mexico

“…Among these factors are the following: favourable macroeconomic conditions, the existence of a leftist government, electoral competition, and the rise of vulnerable employment (Dorlach, 2021; Böger & Leisering, 2017, 2020; Carnes & Mares, 2014). Other less frequent variables are the role of the business sector (and conservative experts) (Dorlach, 2021), the formation of social coalitions around social pensions, the influence of international ideas (Böger & Leisering, 2020), and the existence favourable policy legacies or architectures for universalistic policies at the national level (Martínez & Sánchez, 2018, 2016, 2014).…”

“…The 2000s saw a surge of universal social policies in Latin America (Huber & Stephens, 2012; Martínez & Sánchez, 2014, 2016, 2018; Pribble, 2013), including universal social pensions (e.g. government‐provided non‐contributory cash transfers to all older persons, regardless of their socio‐economic status).…”

“…While there is a rich literature on the adoption and expansion of universalistic policies in Latin America (see, for instance, Martínez & Sánchez, 2014, 2016, 2018; Huber & Stephens, 2012; Pribble, 2013; Garay, 2016), there are fewer studies focused on social pensions (Dorlach, 2021; Böger & Leisering, 2020; Böger & Leisering, 2017; Carnes & Mares, 2014). Furthermore, studies that include more than one social policy in their analysis, failed “examine differences in policy logics across policies” (Blofield, 2019: 1061; Böger & Leisering, 2020).…”

Data_Sheet_1.PDF

“…Although support for redistribution are likely to be positively correlated to social spending in Anglosaxon countries (Alesina and Angeleto, 2005); in Latin America, redistributive policies are also constrained by international financial institutions that feed market inequality (Morgan and Kelly, 2013). As such, support for redistribution in Latin America is not only related to people's awareness of inequality or direct endorsement of redistributive policies, but it is also affected by a long-standing beliefs and policies that discredit social spending under neoliberal agendas that has created a political architecture that discourages the social safety net (Franzoni and Sánchez-Ancochea, 2018). Thus, support for redistribution can be an ideological measure related to political identities and symbolic components rather than to "rational" self-serving public policies preferences (Brandt et al, 2019).…”