ABSTRACT
Providing universal access to social protection and health systems for all members of society, including the poor and vulnerable, is increasingly considered crucial to international development debates. This is the first book to explore from an interdisciplinary and global perspective the reforms of social protection systems introduced in recent years by many governments of low and middle-income countries.
Although a growing body of literature has been concerned with the design and impact of social protection, less attention has been directed towards analyzing and explaining these reform processes themselves. Through case studies of African, Asian, and Latin American countries, this book examines the ‘global phenomenon’ of recent social protection reforms in low and middle-income areas, and how it differs across countries both in terms of scope and speed of institutional change. Exploring the major domestic and international factors affecting the political feasibility of social protection reform, the book outlines the successes and failures of recent reform initiatives.
This invaluable book combines contributions from both academics and practitioner experts to give students, researchers and practitioners in the fields of social security, economics, law and political science an in-depth understanding of political reform processes in developing countries.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|39 pages
Objectives and political economy of social protection reforms
chapter 1|11 pages
Rescuing social protection from the poverty trap 1
chapter 3|10 pages
The political economy of social protection reforms in developing countries
part II|41 pages
The legal framework of social protection reforms
chapter 6|11 pages
The role of law and legal institutions in the reform of social protection systems
chapter 7|9 pages
The role of the law of regional organisations in reforms of social protection systems
part III|52 pages
Political feasibility of basic social protection
chapter 10|13 pages
Populous, precarious – protected?
part IV|56 pages
Social protection systems: between fragmentation and integration
chapter 17|9 pages
Caring for the urban middle class
part V|30 pages
Social protection reforms: international contexts