Crafting Policies to End Poverty: Lessons from Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Latin America
Lecture Description: The current global health crisis and its economic impact have revealed the weaknesses of social assistance systems in many countries. In this talk, I will discuss some of the themes in the book Crafting Policies to End Poverty in Latin America, and will draw lessons from the design and implementation of conditional cash transfer programs in the region. The talk will underscore the importance of understanding the causes and consequences of policy design choices, such as the decision of governments to insulate social policies from political manipulations or not. I will show that whether presidents limit their own discretion or not has consequences for the survival of policies, their political manipulation, and the political capabilities of poor people.
About the Speaker: Ana Lorena De La O is an associate professor of Political Science at Yale University, where she is affiliated with the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, the Institution of Social and Policy Studies, and the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Her research relates to the political economy of poverty alleviation, clientelism, and the provision of public goods. She is the author of Crafting Policies to End Poverty in Latin America (Cambridge University Press). Her articles have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, the Quarterly Journal of Political Science, and the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007.
Register here for Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/DeLaOLecture