Politics and inequality in latin america and the caribbean. Social policy and inequality in latin america, chicago, university of chicago press. Social policy and inequality in latin america huber, evelyne, stephens, john d. Wealth inequality and democracy stanford university. Inequality is currently a prominent topic of debate in western democracies.
Social policy and inequality in latin america find, read. Inclusive development and democracy by james gerardo lamb in capitalism, there is a deep fear of democracy, warned robert reich, a professor of public policy at uc berkeley and former united states secretary of labor. Inequality is destroying american democracy al jazeera. What is social democracy in the latin american and what has been its impact on public policy. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect al jazeera americas editorial policy. The case of latin america and the caribbean honors project in fulfillment of the requirements for.
Alternatives from and for the global south 78 april, 2014, geneva, switzerland. Latin america is the most unequal region in the world. One may point out that some problems in some countries did not turn out so badly. I i extensive poverty and deep social inequality are characteristics of latin america that go back to the colonial period. Poverty, inequality, and the new left in latin america. Regulations, tax policy, and social programs can be used to buffer rising socioeconomic inequalities in. Latin americas democratic consolidation has begun to unravel amid major populist challenges from both the left and the right.
Palmucci university of wisconsinmadison, usa summary. Social policy and inequality in latin america although inequality in latin america ranks among the worst in the world. Stephens argue that the resurgence of democracy in latin america is key to this change. Social policy and inequality in latin america, evelyne huber and john d. Regarding scholarship on the political determinants of inequality, little attention has been paid to. Social policy and inequality download ebook pdf, epub. In addition to directly affecting public policy, democratic institutions enable leftleaning political parties to emerge, significantly influencing the allocation of social spending on poverty and inequality. Social and economic inequality is common in latin america and other parts of the world including developed and developing countries. Democracy and reduction in inequality in latin america 152 2015 9 1 150 158 redistributive policies within the context of the construction of a welfare state, and the reduction in inequality and poverty in latin america. Historical latin america versus the united states for many scholars, the comparison between latin america and the united states shows how. For this, i measure inequality at the cohort level by using pseudopanel data built from household surveys for fifteen latin american countries from. Latin americas struggle with democratic backsliding. Democracy has come a long way in latin america and we can draw encouragement from the regions historic rejection of military dictatorships and bloody civil conflicts although the one in colombia continues unabated. It argues that the impact of democracy on social welfare and internal civil violence is complex, develops unevenly and is mediated by a host of.
International journal of sociology table of contents summer 2011 vol. Explaining the left decade in latin america 2 perotti, 1996 and the discussion in persson and tabellini, 2000, 52, pp. Although inequality in latin america ranks among the worst in the w. This fraudulent democracy goes a long way to accounting for the appeal of populism across the ideological spectrum. Why inequality harms consolidation but does not affect democratization volume 61 issue 4 christian houle.
This text offers a unique balance of comparative politics theory and interdisciplinary countryspecific context, of a thematic organization and indepth country case studies, of. Hence there exists a strong pressure within labor and the left to limit economic relations with the dictatorial right. Public social programs in latin america are heavily weighted toward oldage pensions, and the pension programs tend to be structured so as to reinforce rather than counteract the unequal distribution of earnings in the labor market. I address the link between democracy and inequality in latin america, analyzing whether the degree of democracy that birth cohorts experience during the course of their formative years is related to labor income dispersion later, in adulthood. To illustrate this, three cases using governments and their approach to educational policy to 2007 are presented. The return of democracy in latin america has been associated with a decline in political violence, but also with a failure to redress welfare troubles or restore social justice. Social policy and inequality in latin america ebook written by evelyne huber, john d. Resilient or in decline current trends in latin american. The politics of inequality and redistribution in latin americas postadjustment era kenneth m. Participants discussed whether identity politics are becoming more prevalent in latin america and if.
Political inequality in latin america soraya vargas cortes and joshua kjerulf dubrow p. According to fukuyama, one of the factors causing social. Most latin american countries have extensive social policies which absorb high levels of state spending. New orientations for many years social democracy was rather dormant in latin. Inequality, incorporation crises and political in latin. The latin american programs project on democratic governance and the new left in latin america joined with the center for global development to sponsor a seminar on the approaches of new left governments to fighting poverty and inequality. Roberts january 2012 abstract declining social and economic inequalities since the late 1990s coincided with several basic shifts in latin americas political landscape, including an electoral turn to the left. In democracy and the left, evelyne huber and john d. Social policy expansion in latin america by candelaria garay.
This article presents the first pooled time series analysis of the impact that politics and policy have on inequality in latin america and the caribbean. Despite this, latin america continues to suffer from high levels of inequality in terms of income and access to basic services. This essay provides an exploration of these problematic relationships. Economic inequality and civilian support for democracy. Religion, politics and social inequality in latin america. The higher the inequality, the more likely we are to move away from democracy. In democratic countries, we might expect rising inequality to be partially offset by an increase in political support for redistribution. Social policy expansion in latin america shows that the critical factors driving expansion are electoral competition for the vote of outsiders and social mobilization for policy change. Although inequality in latin america ranks among the worst in the world, it has notably declined over the last decade, offset by improvements in health care and education, enhanced programs for social assistance, and increases in the minimum wage. Thus, factors operating in western europe have converged with developments in latin america to breathe new life into social democracy. Yet, for all of the steps in the right direction, democracy in latin america still faces many challenges. The dataset on income distribution in latin america idla has been developed in the context of the unu widers research project on the new policy model, inequality and poverty in latin america.
Social policy and inequality in latin america evelyne huber, john d. This column argues that the relationship between democracy, redistribution, and inequality is more complicated than that. Use the link below to share a fulltext version of this article with your friends and colleagues. The higher the inequality, the more likely we are to move. Cepr decreasing 1inequality under latin americas social democratic and populist governments executive summary this paper addresses the claim that the governments of argentina, bolivia, ecuador and venezuela, latin americas socalled leftpopulist. Democracy and the threat of redistribution in latin america. I argue that it is a governments origins and its use of the state and related institutions that shape the nature and content of social democracy. Evidence from the last decade and prospects for the. A strong record of democracy and a leftleaning legislative partisan balance are associated with lower levels of inequality, as are social security and welfare spending under democratic.
Comparative politics of latin america democracy at last. Blofield concludes that a window of opportunity may be opening for more redistributive. A sequence of the empirical work on latin america also suggests that a democracy funds welfare spending on some subcategories at higher levels than a nondemocracy does. Coalition of parties for democracy was a coalition of centerleft political parties in chile, founded in 1988. The most ambitious examination of the development of social policy in latin america to date, democracy and the left shows that inequality is far from intractable a finding with crucial policy. Here too we fail to see an automatic link between land inequality and democracy. Contextualizing social provision in latin america the literature on social policy in western societies points to the influence of industrialization and democratization on. Inequality is high in latin america and perpetuates across. Democracy and the left ebook by evelyne huber rakuten kobo. Since the 1990s, however, social policy for millions of outsiders rural, informal, and unemployed workers and dependents has been expanded dramatically. Policy changes and lessons by giovanni andrea cornia for at least the last quarter of the twentieth century, latin america has suffered from low growth, rising inequality, and frequent financial crises.
Instead, left parties have reduced income inequality by expanding edu. Social and economic inequality are therefore inseparable because ones economic status places him or her at a certain social class with distinct privileges. Students will explore and understand the evolutions and revolutions that have brought the region to where it is today in the fullyupdated new edition of daniel hellingers comparative politics of latin america. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read democracy and the left. Religion, politics and social inequality in latin america call for manuscripts for a thematic issue of latin american perspectives issue on religion, politics and social inequality in latin america issue editors. Interestingly, the emphasis on democracy to bring about this prosperity is losing traction. Huber, evelyne, stephens, john 2012 democracy and the left. On the one hand, the level of poverty and underdevelopment, although very important, does not reach the level encountered in many african countries. Democracy, redistribution and inequality harvard university. Inequality and the politics of redistribution in latin america, university of miami political scientist merike blofield assembles a distinguished group of social scientists to look at why democracies tolerate high inequality.