The Racialized Effects of Social Programs in Brazil

Abstract

Studies of the electoral effects of cash transfer programs in Latin America have largely treated the poor as a unitary group. This study considers how the effects of social benefits vary across groups among the targeted poor by exploring the consequences of race for the electoral effects of Brazil's Bolsa Família program. A matching analysis of LAPOP survey data shows that race shapes baseline propensities to participate in elections and to support the incumbent PT at the polls; these tendencies then shape the mechanisms through which cash transfers boost support for the incumbent. Benefits mobilize Afro-Brazilians to participate but have little effect on their vote choice. By contrast, benefits have little effect on whites' participation but persuade them to support the PT over the opposition. This article deepens understanding of how social benefits affect the electoral behavior of recipients and highlights how race shapes political behavior among the poor.

Assessing a Welfare Program's Effects on Social Mobility in Brazil's “Golden Age”: The Intersectionality of Race, Gender, and Redistributive Social Programs in Two Brazilian Cities

“…Some studies show that beneficiaries with different traits experience differential effects of policy receipt. De Micheli (2018) shows that the Bolsa Família program differentially affects the electoral behavior of Black and White beneficiaries vis-à-vis casting null ballots and support for incumbent politicians. Kaknes (2016) shows that beneficiaries who are aware of the incumbent Workers' Party's (PT's) role in promulgating the program are much more likely to support PT candidates, even for state-wide elections.…”

How family and child cash transfers can empower women: Comparative lessons from Brazil and South Africa

“…Engaging more as consumers also seems to engender a greater sense of agency. Furthermore, the expressed conviction that low-income voters could defend BF through their votes and protest tactics reflects feelings of political efficacy (Hunter and Sugiyama, 2014: 387–388) as does the finding that grant participation mobilizes voters to cast valid (as opposed to null or spoiled) ballots in Brazil’s compulsory voting system (De Micheli, 2018: 68). Finally, we have to think that BF’s rights-based framing, along with the supportive multi-faceted infrastructure with which beneficiaries interact, has helped them develop a stronger sense of self-determination.…”

Transferência de renda condicionada (TRC) e votos - Bolsa Família, internet e eleições 2018

“…desta experiência, e da consagração do Bolsa Família em 2003, todas as democracias da América Latina, com exceção de Venezuela e Nicarágua, adotaram programas de TRC. O consenso que se formou entre economistas em relação aos efeitos dos TRC é que, no médio e longo prazo, tais programas tendem a ser positivos, pois garantem no presente um aumento na taxa de matrícula e frequências escolar concomitante com a queda do trabalho infantil (o que se reflete positivamente nos indicadores futuros) (SCHWARTZ, 2011;CORRÊA, 2016;MICHELI, 2018).…”