The politics of social protection: what do we get from a ‘social contract’ approach?

Investigating the Political Economy of Social Protection Expansion in Africa: At the Intersection of Transnational Ideas and Domestic Politics

“…According to ideational institutionalism, it is ideas, proposed by particular political actors, that provide the blueprints for these institutions (Blyth 2002, Schmidt 2008, Hay 2011). The ideational blueprints that underpin political settlements, and provide the basis for consensus between contending factions, can take many different forms, but may include paradigmatic ideas on social policy, from the welfare state to rights-based approaches to different forms of social contract between a state and its citizens (Hickey 2011). …”

“…There is a growing recognition within development studies that politics matters for social protection in general (Graham 2002, Pritchett 2005, Hickey 2009) and with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa (Hickey 2008, Niño-Zarazúa et al 2011. This existing research has convincingly argued both that politics shapes social protection processes (Graham 1995, Barrientos and Pellissery 2012 and that causal links run in both directions; social protection can also transform politics, potentially building social cohesion (Mkandawire 2004(Mkandawire , 2005 and social contracts (Hickey 2011). However, while this research has identified broad political factors that influence social protection -namely institutions, actors,…”

Current Debate on the Social Protection Paradigm and Its Implication for Nigeria

“…They opine that social protection emerged as a necessary response to the rupture of the social contract caused by the excesses of capitalist accumulation and associated processes of commodification (Hickey, 2011). According to Rawls (1972, p. 15) "people contract to be ruled and live together insofar as minimal standards of freedom and livelihood are guaranteed for all."…”

“…According to Rawls (1972, p. 15) "people contract to be ruled and live together insofar as minimal standards of freedom and livelihood are guaranteed for all." A social contract perspective thus locates social protection within the specific character of state-society relations, and the wider pursuit of social justice (Hickey, 2011). Part of the appeal of a "social contract" approach, then, is both its ideological attractiveness and the promise that it can offer a unifying approach to a number of popular concerns around the politics of development, including issues of state accountability and legitimacy, popular mobilization and claim-making, issues of inclusion and exclusion, and of political commitment and the political sustainability of development interventions (Hickey, Sabates-Wheeler, Guenther, & Macauslan, 2008).…”

“…For De Waal (1997), social contracts also rest, in part, on the active demands of citizens who mobilize and make claims against duty-bearing institutions. It is important to note that the social contract approach also sees social protection as an exchange, whereby cash is transferred to recipients in return for their fulfilling particular modes of developmental citizenship (Rawlings & Rubio, 2005;Hickey, 2011).…”