The Effect of Unions and Organized Civil Society on Social Policy: Pension and Health Reforms in Argentina and Brazil, 1988-2008

• Published in: Latin American politics and society Vol. 56; no. 4; pp. 22 - 48
• Main Author: Niedzwiecki, Sara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Coral Gables Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-12-2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Cambridge University Press
• Subjects: Argentina; Brazil; Civil Society; Employee pension plans; Enactment; Energy resources; Europe; Health care policy; Health Care Services Policy; Latin America; Marriage; Pension funds; Pension plans; Pensions; Policy Reform; Policy research; Political parties; Political reform; Private pensions; Reform; Reforms; Social insurance; Social Policy; Social reform; Structural change; Brazil; Argentina; Latin America
• ISSN: 1531-426X; 1548-2456
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-2456.2014.00247.x

This article shows how modified European power resources theories can be applied to Latin America to explain differences in the depth of policy reforms. It innovates on previous work on Latin American social policy by particularly examining the effect of unions and other civil society groups on the process of structural reforms (or lack thereof) in the health and pension sectors in Argentina and Brazil. Through a most similar system design, this analysis shows that the strength and support (or opposition) of organized civil society groups is a crucial condition to account for the enactment (or failure) of a given broad policy reform.