Mapping social policy development in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Over the years, a large body of literature about social policy development in subSaharan Africa (SSA) has emerged. However, due to a concern for pressing humanitarian and development issues, most of the scholarship devoted to contemporary African social policy is not grounded in systematic theoretical models aimed at explaining policy differences between and within countries. Because a large body of literature has been published in recent decades to tackle this type of issue within the advanced industrial world, it is important to assess the relevance of existing theories of social policy development for policy analysis in SSA. This article makes a direct contribution to the comparative welfare literature because it draws attention to the limitations of existing theories for understanding social policy development in Africa, while highlighting their relevance for the analysis of the development and transformation of social programmes in the region's countries.

Conceptualising the politics of social protection expansion in low income countries: The intersection of transnational ideas and domestic politics

“…The first of these concerns welfare state development in advanced economies, highlighting explanations based around interests, institutions, economic transformation and ideas. While there is certainly need for caution in translating these theories to the very different contexts of contemporary developing countries, following others (Kpessa & B eland, 2013), we argue below that the political factors identified in this literature remain highly relevant to the analysis of social protection in low income countries. Indeed, some of these factors have already been identified in the small but growing body of work on the politics of social protection in developing countries (Graham, 2002;Hickey, 2009) and Africa in particular (Hickey, 2008;Niño-Zaraz ua, Barrientos, Hickey, & Hulme, 2011).…”

“…Each of these theoretical perspectives has analytical value, but also notable weaknesses, especially when transferred to the context of contemporary low income countries (Kpessa & Béland, ). For example, while structural transformation frequently undermines existing informal support mechanisms, poses new forms of social risk and provides increased revenues to pay for social policies to address them, a focus on structural transformation offers little insight into the motivations for adopting social protection policies in low income countries (Kpessa & Béland, ; Mares & Carnes, ). Similarly, a focus on the formal institutions that structure decision making is likely to be highly misleading in developing country contexts when informal institutions also play important and, perhaps, dominant roles in political processes.…”

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

“…In contrast, competitive clientelist settlements provide strong incentives for ruling coalitions to pursue policies that deliver quick wins to maximise immediate political returns and secure electoral support for the coalition. The long-term perspective of dominant party coalitions was evident in the use of pensions and other insurance schemes by the East Asian developmental states, not only to provide protection to those covered, but also as a means of enforcing savings and mobilising revenues for long-run investment in economic development (Kwon 2004, Kpessa and Béland 2013, Yi and Mkandawire 2014. It also seems likely that such a long-term perspective is necessary for ruling coalitions to invest in integrated and sustainable social protection systems that take time to construct, so as to exploit synergies between policy areas (Mkandawire 2004) or that anticipate future structural economic changes -pursuing policies that do not just meet the social needs of today, but the likely needs of a more advanced economy in the future.…”

“…This literature advances four main explanations for patterns of welfare state development related to: economic growth and structural transformation (Wilensky 1975); class-based political mobilisation for redistribution (Korpi 1978, 1983, Stephens 1979, Huber and Stephens 2001; institutionalist explanations that highlight how institutional design structures political decision making and results in path dependence (Esping-Andersen 1990, Skocpol 1992, Pierson 1994; and the role of ideas in shaping preferences and influencing policy change (Schmidt 2002, Béland 2005, Weyland 2009). While there is certainly need for caution in translating these theories from the analysis of welfare states to the very different contexts of contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, the political factors at play remain highly relevant to the analysis of social policy in Africa (Kpessa and Béland 2013).…”

The Politics of Promoting Social Protection in Zambia

“…1 The approach is based on an 'adapted political settlements' framework incorporating insights from the literature on welfare state development and social protection in both industrialized countries and the global south (e.g. Huber and Stephens 2012;Kpessa and Béland 2013; see also Barrientos and Pellissery 2012;Hickey 2007;Niño-Zarazúa et al 2011); on the role of ideas in shaping political behaviour and institutional change (Schmidt 2008); and the role of global policy networks (Stone 2008). The framework is expanded in depth in Lavers and Hickey (2016).…”