Institutions and Emerging Welfare States Social Assistance in South Africa and Brazil A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Political Science (Dr. rer. pol.) to the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the Freie Universit¨atBerlin by Leon Amos Schreiber Berlin, June 2015 Supervisor Prof. Dr. Susanne L¨utz Professor for International Political Economy Department of Political and Social Sciences Freie Universit¨atBerlin Second Examiner Prof. Janis van der Westhuizen Associate Professor Department of Political Science Stellenbosch University Date of dissertation defence: 18 November 2015 1 Contents Contents 2 Acknowledgements 7 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 12 Abbreviations 14 1 Introduction 19 1.1 Background and Rationale................................. 19 1.2 Research Question and Hypotheses............................ 20 1.3 Case Selection........................................ 22 1.4 Significance of the Study.................................. 24 1.5 Chapter Outline...................................... 25 2 Conceptual and Analytical Framework 29 2.1 Introduction......................................... 29 2.2 Emerging Welfare States.................................. 30 2.3 Social Assistance: An Integral Part of Social Protection................ 31 2 2.3.1 Labour Protection and Social Insurance..................... 33 2.3.2 Social Assistance: The Core of the Emerging Welfare State.......... 34 2.4 Analytical Framework................................... 37 2.5 Conclusion......................................... 41 3 Literature Review 42 3.1 Introduction......................................... 42 3.2 Classifying Emerging Welfare States........................... 43 3.3 Social Assistance in the Developing World........................ 48 3.4 Historical Institutionalism................................. 50 3.5 Explaining Variation in Social Assistance Provision................... 55 3.6 Conclusion......................................... 58 4 Research Design 60 4.1 Introduction......................................... 60 4.2 Methodology........................................ 61 4.3 Data Collection....................................... 64 4.4 Limitations and Delimitations............................... 66 4.5 Ethical Considerations................................... 68 4.6 Conclusion......................................... 68 5 Comparing Social Assistance in South Africa and Brazil 69 5.1 Introduction......................................... 69 5.2 Social Protection in South Africa............................. 70 5.2.1 Social Assistance in South Africa......................... 71 5.3 Social Protection in Brazil................................. 80 5.3.1 Social Assistance in Brazil............................. 82 3 5.4 Comparing Social Assistance Systems.......................... 91 5.5 Dependent Variables and Social Assistance Typologies................. 98 5.5.1 Dependent Variables................................ 98 5.5.2 Typologies of Social Assistance.......................... 99 5.6 Conclusion......................................... 102 6 The Development of Social Assistance in South Africa 103 6.1 Introduction......................................... 103 6.2 Deep Institutionalisation of Social Assistance Norms.................. 105 6.2.1 Social Assistance before 1994........................... 105 6.2.2 The Legal Codification of Social Assistance Norms in South Africa...... 124 6.2.3 Social Assistance Norms in South Africa..................... 131 6.3 State Structure....................................... 132 6.3.1 Concentrated Institutional Structure....................... 133 6.3.2 Political Power Concentration........................... 135 6.4 The Institutional Setting.................................. 137 6.5 Institutions, Actors and Social Assistance in South Africa............... 137 6.6 The Policy Development Process............................. 141 6.6.1 Initial Policy Design (1994-1999)......................... 142 6.6.2 Attempts at Comprehensive Reform (1999-2009)................ 154 6.6.3 Consolidation (2009-present)........................... 159 6.7 Conclusion......................................... 162 7 The Development of Social Assistance in Brazil 164 7.1 Introduction......................................... 164 7.2 Weak Institutionalisation of Social Assistance Norms.................. 166 7.2.1 Social Assistance before 1990........................... 166 4 7.2.2 The Legal Codification of Social Assistance Norms in Brazil.......... 174 7.2.3 Social Assistance Norms in Brazil......................... 179 7.3 State Structure....................................... 180 7.3.1 Diffuse Institutional Structure.......................... 180 7.3.2 Political Power Fragmentation.......................... 184 7.4 The Institutional Setting.................................. 187 7.5 Institutions, Actors and Social Assistance in Brazil................... 187 7.6 The Policy Development Process............................. 191 7.6.1 Initial Policy Design (1990-1997)......................... 191 7.6.2 Federal Coordination (1997-2003)......................... 199 7.6.3 Unification and Universalisation (2003-2006).................. 203 7.6.4 Expansion and Consolidation (2006-present)................... 209 7.7 Conclusion......................................... 214 8 Explaining Variation 216 8.1 Introduction......................................... 216 8.2 Alternative Explanations.................................. 217 8.2.1 The Functional Hypothesis............................ 217 8.2.2 The Ideational Hypothesis............................. 223 8.3 The Institutional Explanation............................... 227 8.3.1 Coverage...................................... 228 8.3.2 Conditionality................................... 230 8.3.3 Orientation..................................... 232 8.3.4 Productive versus Protective........................... 233 8.4 Conclusion......................................... 235 5 9 Concluding Remarks 237 9.1 Summary of Findings................................... 237 9.2 Generalizability....................................... 240 9.3 Opportunities for Future Research............................ 242 9.4 Recommendations for Policy Practitioners........................ 243 Bibliography 245 Appendix A: Interviews { South Africa 285 Appendix B: Interviews { Brazil 286 Appendix C: Eligibility Requirements { South Africa 287 Appendix D: Eligibility Requirements { Brazil 291 Abstract 293 Zusammenfassung 295 Publications during the Course of Research 297 Biography 300 6 Acknowledgements The completion of this project was only made possible through the generous support of a whole host of individuals and institutions. Although I am sincerely thankful for having come to know so many wonderful people all over the world during this journey of academic and personal development, I wish to take this opportunity to thank a number of them in particular. My initial word of appreciation goes to Professor Susanne L¨utzat the Freie Universit¨atBerlin for her unwavering commitment in guiding my academic development throughout the last four years. I owe her a great debt of gratitude not only for her role in aiding the completion of this dissertation, but also for the way in which she continually supported me in all the endeavours I chose to pursue throughout our time working together. It was a pleasure to be advised by such an incisive and committed academic. A word of thanks also goes to Sibylle Schaefer for the tremendous administrative support which facilitated our interactions, as well as to Professor Janis van der Westhuizen from Stellenbosch University for his constant encouragement. I was further lucky enough to spend the final year of the journey at Princeton University, working under the guidance of Professor Jennifer Widner. I wish to thank her for making it possible for me to attend this exceptional institution, where I was able to participate in coursework in addition to completing the writing process. The feedback provided on the manuscript by her as well as by Professor Atul Kohli was invaluable. It was a true privilege to be able to work with them. None of this would however have been possible without the generous financial support provided by a host of funding institutions. Perhaps the most decisive among these was the scholarship from 7 the European Commission, which initially enabled me to travel abroad and enrol at Berlin. The journey would have been stillborn without this early faith they demonstrated in my abilities. Thank you in this regard to Stefanie B¨ohler,Beatrice Lange and the rest of the coordinating team. Further institutional support was subsequently provided by Princeton University, the Berlin Consortium for Germanic Studies, as well as by the German Academic Exchange Service. I wish to also extend my heartfelt thanks to these funders, and it is my hope that the project will go on to produce impacts commensurate with the trust they have placed in me. One of the greatest blessings of the journey came in the form of sharing the company of fellow travellers. This includes longtime friends such as Aldu Cornelissen, Jeanie le Roux, Nelius Stephan, Lappies Labuschagne and Egbert Loubser, who never wavered despite the years of distance between us. I was further welcomed into a circle of truly exceptional people during my time in Berlin. To Miguelangel Verde, Philani Mthembu, Anne Venhaus, Amrit Naresh, Benjamin Anderson, Daniel