The Politics of Conditionality in Latin America’s Cash Transfer Reforms

The extent to which conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are aligned with the social investment paradigm is still a contested issue. In this chapter, the authors offer new evidence to understand the conditions under which CCTs should be considered social investment reforms. To do so, they analyze the heterogeneity of 24 CCTs in 12 Latin American countries. They find that not all CCTs are created equal but instead vary in the design and stringency of their conditionalities. The authors then turn to understanding this variation, arguing that the type of conditionality is driven by the political dynamics of reform. By analyzing the trajectory of four cases, they argue that ideological preferences are important to shape governments’ choices regarding conditionalities. When strong preferences are not present, though, there is room for conditionalities’ designs to be used by governments in an effort of coalition-building or to gain support from the opposition or specific constituencies.