Economic Liberalization, Democratization, and Social Policy Reform: Latin America and the Caribbean, Iberia, and the Antipodes

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The basic aims of this research project are to construct a data set for pooled cross section and time series analysis of social policy in 9 countries in Latin America, Iberia, the Caribbean, and the Antipodes from 1950-2000, to collect information for a comparative historical analysis of the origins and transformations of social policy, and to bring quantitative and qualitative methodologies to systematically analyze options for and constraints on social policy relating to economic liberalization and transitions from authoritarian to democratic political systems. The ultimate goal is to identify the economic and political constraints posed by these processes of transformation and the conditions that allow for building or maintaining strong social safety nets and effective social services. The project will establish causal links between the level of economic development, consolidation of democratic institutions, and the nature and actions of social and political actors. It will answer the question of where and why options for building or preserving effective social safety nets and social services existed, and where and why governments pursued these options or failed to do so. The project will have several broader impacts: Through conference presentations, scholarly articles, and a book, the project will contribute to a better understanding by policy makers in governments and in international development institutions of the ways in which open markets, political power distributions, and political institutions shape options for creative policy design and political coalition building in support of effective social policies. The project will also contribute to education and training of graduate students by involving them as research assistants and co-authors. Finally, the data set will be made publicly available and will facilitate research on a number of questions in comparative political economy and social policy.