Paper short abstract:

This paper explores politics underpinning uneven implementation of Ghana's LEAP program. Drawing on case analysis in four sub-units, the paper demonstrates the ways in which balance of power among elites and state formation undergirds unevenness in decentralized social protection implementation.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines politics underpinning Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) program implementation. LEAP is a centrally driven social transfer program, but implemented through decentralised government sub-units with variant capacities and political conditions. Evaluations have highlighted LEAP's transformative outcomes on beneficiary households. Nonetheless, considerable unevenness exist in LEAP implementation at sub-national levels. The puzzle the paper addresses relates to why LEAP is implemented better in some sub-national units than others? What role do political contexts play in this unevenness? How do variations in sub-national capacities underscore the implementation differences? This paper, based on comparative case studies in four sub-national units (districts) in Ghana, two in the far northwestern (Upper West) and two in the south central (Central) region in 2018, draws on interviews with sub-national elites, bureaucrats and beneficiaries. The paper finds significant variation in community and beneficiary targeting approaches from processes outlined in LEAP documentation. While in some districts, targeting of communities and households largely departed from the LEAP documentation and resulted from intra- and inter-party political considerations; in others, the targeting was more closely aligned with the model, as political and social elite coalitions' protected targeting processes from political influences. The paper also finds that effectiveness of grant delivery in different districts were shaped largely by legacies of state formation and depth of penetration of state infrastructure.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the politics of distributing Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), highlighting how sub-national variation in state capacity and party-state-society relations shape programme implementation.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the politics of distributing Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), including targeting, appeals and graduation. The PSNP is one of the largest social transfer programmes in sub-Saharan Africa, and donors and evaluations have lauded the programme, including its community-based targeting. Yet effective implementation, including distribution, places requirements both on state capacity and state-society relations. Where these factors vary within a country, as in Ethiopia, we might expect variation in implementation also. The paper employs a case-based analysis drawing on some 240 interviews and focus groups conducted during 2018 with government officials, donor agencies, community residents and social elites. This research process traces PSNP distribution in three regional states with distinct configurations of party-state-society relations and state capacity: Tigray; Oromiya; and Afar. In each case the targeting approach in practice varies significantly from that envisaged in programme documentation, closely reflecting these factors. In Tigray, the dominant party-state has penetrated local society, with the result that targeting relies not on an idealised view of the community, but the capacity and reach of fused party-state structures. In Afar, in contrast, limited state capacity means that state and party structures defer to more powerful neo-customary authorities. In Oromiya, meanwhile, relatively well-developed though illegitimate, party-state structures were in a state of collapse during fieldwork in early 2018 in the midst of the Oromo protests. The analysis serves both to illustrate the extreme variation in state capacity and party-state-society relations within Ethiopia, and to emphasise the influence of such variation on programme implementation.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how state capacity and political competition shaped the implementation of the universal pension in Marsabit prior to the 2017 national election in Kenya. It argues that the political visibility of the pension was prioritized over effective targeting and grievance structures.

Paper long abstract:

In 2017, the Government of Kenya extended its provision of social assistance to the elderly through the transformation of the Older Persons Cash Transfer into a universal pension which provides cash transfers to those aged 70 plus. The design and implementation of the universal pension are meant to be uniform across the country, however, the central government has historically faced challenges in the implementation of social services across Kenya's northern counties. Decades of marginalization from the central state, alongside low state reach and capacity, has resulted in a poor record of formal service and welfare provision in the northern pastoralist areas. This paper examines the implementation of the universal pension in Marsabit County. It argues that the visibility of the universal pension was prioritized over effective implementation. Inadequate resources, weak state capacity and limited state reach, combined with pressures from the central government to register beneficiaries before the heavily contested national election in August 2017, resulted in limited avenues for complaints and a targeting procedure which, contrary to official guidelines, relied on community leaders, including chiefs, clan leaders and religious leaders, to register and verify beneficiaries. To make this argument, we employ process tracing to trace the implementation of the universal pension from the national level down to the village level, and in doing so illuminate the power and politics which undergirds its implementation. We utilize qualitative data collected across six months in 2018, including key informant interviews and focus group discussions with government officials, community leaders, politicians and beneficiaries.

Paper short abstract:

We examine how sub-national factors shape social protection provisioning in Rwanda. Drawing from case studies in two districts with distinct histories of state formation, findings show how intra-state differences can be explained through sub-national historical, regional, and political context.

Paper long abstract:

Since coming to power after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda's ruling party has promoted inclusive development. An important aspect of the RPF's strategy has been to expand social transfers and health insurance. This paper assesses the degree to which sub-national variation in state capacity and state-society relations within Rwanda shapes implementation of the VUP, in particular the distribution and targeting of resources. The study draws from detailed qualitative fieldwork to examine the implementation of social provisioning in two districts: Rubavu District (northwest Rwanda) and Huye District (south). The destructive legacy of the genocide and intense state-building efforts undertaken under the RPF since that time have led to a reversal of longer-term state formation trajectories: Social protection programs were generally more successful in Rubavu than Huye. Since 1994 the RPF has focused considerable efforts to incorporate the northwest into the party-led development project, in part due to the fact that this region had been reluctant to incorporate to the pre-1994 state building project and the ongoing security threat posed by its proximity to the Congolese border. Huye, by contrast, was severely affected by violence of the genocide and continue to suffer from its social and economic aftereffects. Study findings suggest that social protection was implemented differently across the two districts and that differences can be explained, in large part, by the underpinning state-society relations that underly the sub-national historical, regional, and political context.

Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates whether, and in what ways, Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty and National Health Insurance Scheme shape citizenship and state capacity differently. It departs from recent political analysis that assume a unidirectional causal link between politics and policy.

Paper long abstract:

Recent debates on social policy in developing countries have underscored the need to move beyond technocratic analysis by emphasising the primacy of politics in adoption and implementation. Yet, this emerging literature is limited in enhancing our understanding of how social policies elicit particular kinds of effects which in turn feed back into political processes. Drawing on lessons from the welfare-state literature, we problematize how Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) and National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) shape citizenship and state capacity, and how this may in turn influence the nature of social and political relations among relevant actors, and inclusive development more broadly. Based on case studies in two implementation districts with varying state capacity, we analyse data from 115 interviews with programme beneficiaries, government officials, service providers, donors, FGDs and small survey, conducted over a nine-month period, to interrogate the proposition that targeted and universal/contributory social protection programmes may lead to different social and political outcomes. Our preliminary findings suggest that the two programmes have built the capacity of the state to deliver public services through various interpretive and resource effects. However, and contrary to welfare-state literature, beyond satisfying the resource needs of beneficiaries and transforming local-level relations, there is little evidence that these programmes have contributed to building a more active citizenry through greater political engagement. Nor do we find any marked difference in the extent to which beneficiaries of the two programmes are able to or (disabled from) exercising voice on the quality of service delivery.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the contestation around cash transfers during implementation in Zambia, due to a clash of ideas catalysed by political pressure. The resulting policy changes show that implementation continues to influence policy development as donor ideas interact with domestic priorities.

Paper long abstract:

Transnational actors have been instrumental in the adoption of social cash transfers (SCTs) in Zambia, and in introducing the ideas that have shaped their development thus far. However a significant increase in government funding of the SCT programme in 2013 marked a shift in government-donor relations, with government increasingly 'in the driving seat' as the programme expands.

This paper examines the contestation that has occurred in Zambia as a centralised SCT policy model, designed by transnational actors and national bureaucrats, is delivered through a decentralised government structure informed by domestic political priorities. It is during implementation that reactions from the local political, bureaucratic and public arenas begin to emerge, as local actors engage in the process. In Zambia, cash transfers became politicised during the 2014 Presidential by-election due to the growing political pressures surrounding targeting, as widespread complaints about the model based on ideas of deservingness raised concern among politicians.

Despite limited influence of citizen voice over the delivery of public goods and services in Zambia, cash transfers have provoked citizens to engage directly with questions of redistribution due to this clash of ideas, facilitated by political interests. This has led to changes to the cash transfer targeting model as a result of the complaints demonstrating that policy development continues during implementation processes, which can influence the nature of the policy, as well as its delivery.

Paper short abstract:

This article explores the linkages between quality of institutions and people's preferences in relation to the quality of implementation of social protection interventions by using Ethiopia and the Productive Safety Net Programme as a case study.

Paper long abstract:

Effective implementation of social protection interventions is key for achieving positive impact, but factors underpinning quality of implementation have not been widely explored. Recent literature on determinants of social protection expenditures indicates that quality of institutions and people's preferences play an important role. This article builds on this literature to explore the linkages between quality of institutions and people's preferences in relation to the quality of implementation of social protection interventions. It does so by using Ethiopia and one of the largest social protection programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa - the Productive Safety Net Programme - as a case study, thereby contributing to debates of how social protection can be implemented more effectively, particularly in settings with widespread poverty, relatively low levels of institutional capacity and rapid scale-up of programmes. Based on primary qualitative data, the article finds that greater institutional quality is associated with more effective implementation of social protection interventions. The ability to voice preferences can lead to adaptations in implementation, although the extent to which this occurs is highly gendered.

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses transnational actor influence in the implementation of Ghana's LEAP with a focus on interests. It aims to highlight the strategies used by transnational actors to promote their interests and how domestic actors also use LEAP to further their political interests and agendas.

Paper long abstract:

As with most cash transfer programmes in the Sub-Saharan African region, the implementation of Ghana's LEAP has been the product of many consultations with political actors and technocrats at the national and transnational actor (TNA) levels. Transnational actors combine multiple strategies including sharing their knowledge and experiences with national actors and provide financial incentives for implementing the LEAP programme.

Using my field work data, the paper will show that although transnational actors (TNAs)are able to promote their own interests through conditionalities, domestic political actors are still able to use the LEAP to further their political interests and agendas. They achieve this through the domestic politics of selecting community implementers and actions that fulfil their political manifesto promises and social protection policies.

Paper short abstract:

This paper presents new evidence on why four Southern African countries provide social protection differently. I show that varieties reflect electoral competition that reinforces patronage and clientilism while domestic politics constrain international influence over implementation of programmes.

Paper long abstract:

Taxonomies of child benefits from the global North are of little assistance in understanding variation in Southern Africa because they focus primarily on their relationship with gendered divisions of labour, not on provision for children per se. In Southern Africa, where social assistance is the result of the combination of colonial inheritance, AIDS-related concerns over orphans and high rates of child poverty, the form of targeting is a crucial dimension of variation. This paper presents new evidence on how and why four countries in Southern Africa implement social protection for families with children in different ways. Qualitative and quantitative data is used, first, to construct a new taxonomy of welfare regimes and, second, to explain the variation. The taxonomy contrasts a pro-poor regime with high coverage and generous transfers (as in South Africa), a familialist regime with medium coverage, overall generosity but provides parsimonious cash benefits (as in Botswana), a mixed (pro-poor-familial) regime with low coverage and modest generosity (as in Namibia) and an agrarian one with low coverage and ungenerous benefits (as in Zimbabwe). These varieties are driven by electoral competition that reinforces patronage and clientilism in some countries while domestic politics constrain international influence over implementation of programmes in others.

Paper short abstract:

External actors have invested heavily in propagating social protection policies and programmes in Africa in the past 20 years. While there is a huge consensus that social protection is beneficial, there are questions about whether this process of induced adoption is nationally owned or donor-driven.

Paper long abstract:

External actors have invested heavily in propagating social protection policies and programmes throughout Africa in the past 20 years. This policy transfer process has been led by the international development community - bilateral and multilateral donors, United Nations agencies, international financial institutions and international NGOs. Strategies include: (1) building the evidence base for positive impacts, especially of cash transfer programmes; (2) building government capacity through training courses and technical advisors; (3) directly financing the technical and recurrent costs of social protection programmes; and (4) deepening political commitment by commissioning national social protection policies. While there is a broad consensus that social protection is intrinsically beneficial, there are questions about whether this process of induced adoption is nationally owned or donor-driven: are donor agendas aligned or in conflict with national priorities? Zimbabwe is analysed as a case study country because the evolution of social protection thinking and practice in Zimbabwe exemplifies these policy processes and programming conundrums.

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how a combination of recent historical processes of state formation, the transition to a federal system of government, and the challenge of repeated acute disasters influences the policy and programming choices for social protection in Nepal.

Paper long abstract:

The emergence and subsequent scale up of social protection in Nepal has taken place alongside Maoist uprising, violent conflict, and the promulgation of a new constitution which marked the establishment of a federal system of government. At the same time, Nepal remains exposed to multiple disasters: from the 2015 earthquake; to recurrent drought; to the devastating floods of 2014 and 2016.

This paper explores how the historical processes of state formation and the challenge of repeated acute disasters influences the policy and programming choices for social protection. It draws on a desk-based literature review and interviews carried out during fieldwork in Kathmandu and four districts of Nepal in 2018. It focuses in particular on two phases in Nepal's recent history: the period of competitive clientelist politics following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2006 - where rapid and frequent turnover of political power brought the establishment of multiple new programmes each targeted to a specific vulnerable group; and the period from 2014 to 2018 where the transition to a federal system with three equal tiers of government overlapped with a number of serious disasters. The paper assesses how these specific events and historical processes have given rise to a particular and fragmented configuration of social protection programmes. It explores the implications of this configuration for the range of risks and vulnerabilities that social protection in Nepal can adequately address, considers who is included and excluded, and assesses the effect on state-society relations more broadly.

Paper short abstract:

Social protection institutionalization trajectories are varied. This study maps fragmented vs integrated approaches in the distribution of social protection functions across national departments and institutions in the developing world.

Paper long abstract:

In the past 25 years, global commitments and national governments have endorsed social protection programmes as a means to addressing poverty and inequality. This has resulted in a growing level of institutionalization of social protection within national government administrations. Yet, particularly in response to different programmatic emphases by international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Labour Organization, there is considerable cross-country variation in the institutional configurations that have resulted. The trajectory of institutionalization has in many cases entailed the establishment of new institutions in parallel to existing departmental systems (particularly where the emphasis has shifted from social insurance to social assistance), in other cases new programmes have been implemented by existing departments.

This paper reports the findings of a mapping exercise, examining the departmental location of social protection programmes across a range of middle and low income countries. Each country is reviewed in terms of the historical development of institutions (e.g. have new departments been created to manage new programmes), and the number of departments across which social protection functions are distributed (as a proxy for the level of coordination between programmes). The research forms a preliminary analysis which can support further research on the design and implementation of comprehensive social protection systems towards the achievement of the SDGs.

Paper short abstract:

This paper shows how the politics of state-building in Himachal Pradesh, India, helped stimulate bureaucratic norms promoting deliberation. Bureaucratic deliberation has, in turn, enhanced the implementation of social services, giving rise to comparatively superior education and health outcomes.

Paper long abstract:

How do states build the capacity to deliver social services? Through an analysis of social development in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh (HP), this paper challenges the conventional wisdom that the implementation of services necessarily suffers in patronage-driven political systems. Located in the harsh terrain of the western Himalayas, HP was among India's least literate states at independence. By 2000, it secured a leading position in primary education and health outcomes. To understand these puzzling gains, I demonstrate how the historical process of state formation stimulated the formation of bureaucratic norms fostering deliberation. In the 1970s and 1980s, HP's adverse fiscal conditions spurred state elites to engage in collective action to obtain resources from the central government. Bureaucratic deliberation became institutionalized over time, as state officials routinely discussed the utilization of central grants, working together to plan and secure additional resources. The expansion of patronage (e.g. public sector jobs and contracts) helped bind citizens to the state. Meanwhile, local agencies learned to adapt social programs to the needs of diverse communities, encouraging societal monitoring of public schools and health services. The study is based on ten months of field and archival research, including interviews and focus group discussions with active and retired state officials, local bureaucrats, school teachers, health workers and parents, along with ethnographic fieldwork conducted inside state agencies and villages. The analysis sheds light on how deliberation inside the state, catalyzed by the state-building process, can moderate the influence of patronage politics to advance social development.

Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to capture that states adopt social protection policies only superficially due to international pressure without necessarily implementing the related policies. I will be using a new database containing legislative information about social protection policies in the Global South.

Paper long abstract:

After the simultaneous adoption of social assistance programs in various regions in the late 2000s, scholars started focusing on the role of international norms in welfare development in the Global South. So far, a large body of literature (Berkovitch 1999; Böger and Leisering 2017; Deacon 2013; Orenstein 2008; Schmitt et al. 2015; Usui 1994) confirmed the impact of international organizations on the adoption of social policies in less developed countries (LDCs). However, it mostly neglected the question whether the influence of international organizations continued in the development of social policies. This paper aims to fill this gap. Do LDCs actually implement social policies after the ratification of international conventions or is their ratification just window-dressing? If the 'de-coupling' occurs, why do LDCs even pretend to accept the international norms? This paper will answer these questions using a mixed-methods approach composed of event history analysis, panel analysis and case studies. The first question will be answered by testing the influence of the ratification of ILO conventions on the enactment of family policies and its impact on family policy expenditure in 152 LDCs from 1910 till 2017. The following qualitative research will answer the second question through process tracing.