Social Policies for Social Polities: How Conditional Cash Transfers are Undermining Traditional Patrons in Northeast Brazil

• Main Author: Lorenzo Daïeff
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Association d'Economie Politique 2016-11-01
• Series: Interventions Économiques pour une Alternative Sociale
• Subjects: social policy; conditional cash transfers; clientelism; citizenship; Brazil
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/interventionseconomiques/2987
• ISSN: 0715-3570; 1710-7377

Can conditional cash transfers (CCTs) – a popular form of social programs across Latin America and the world – transform poor people’s politics, and foster inclusive citizenship? This paper sets out to explore the interconnections between state intervention, clientelism, and citizenship, on the basis of in-depth qualitative fieldwork in Recife, Northeast Brazil, a region historically marked by strong patron-client relationships. Through conversations with recipients and administrators of the Bolsa Família program, the world’s largest CCT, the paper first refutes the idea that CCTs are themselves a form of vote-buying, and goes on to suggest that they may instead be contributing to the decline of clientelistic politics. The paper then turns to the question of whether the Bolsa Família may, in Recife, be fostering a new form of inclusive citizenship for beneficiaries, and explores competing considerations. It closes on a cautiously optimistic note, and briefly considers the implications for CCTs in other countries and contexts.