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Author(s): Evelyne Huber, François Nielsen, Jenny Pribble and John D. Stephens
Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 71, No. 6 (Dec., 2006), pp. 943-963
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472438
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Politics and Inequality in
Latin America and the Caribbean
This article presents the first pooled time series analysis of the impact that politics and
policy have on inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors build on
models consisting of sociological and economic variables, adding the strength of the
democratic tradition, long-term legislative partisan political power distribution, and
social spending to explain variation in inequality. They analyze an unbalanced pooled
time series data set for income distribution in 18 Latin American and Caribbean
countries from 1970 to 2000. They show that the political variables add explanatory
power. A strong record of democracy and a left-leaning legislative partisan balance are
associated with lower levels of inequality, as are social security and welfare spending
under democratic regimes. Thus, they replicate some and modify other well-established
findings from studies of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) countries in the very different context of Latin America and the Caribbean. They
confirm that the partisan composition of government matters, and show that, in contrast
to OECD countries, where social security and welfare spending consistently reduce
inequality, such spending reduces inequality only in a democratic context in Latin
America and the Caribbean.
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944 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
American and Caribbean region. For practical tralization of political power (Hicks 1999; Huber
purposes, we hope to highlight how human and Stephens 2001; Swank 2002). Pooled time
agency can potentially reduce excessive levels series data on income distribution and wage
of inequality. dispersion recently made available, respective
Inequalities in landholding and political ly, by the Luxembourg Income Study and OECD
power originating in the colonial order are at the have stimulated a number of studies demon
center of theoretical explanations for the deep strating that these features of the polity exert a
roots of inequality in Latin America and the strong influence on inequality, poverty, and
Caribbean. After Independence, inequality in wage dispersion in advanced industrial soci
assets and income was conditioned by and rein eties (e.g. Bradley et al. 2003; Iversen 2005;
forced inequality in political influence, and thus Moller et al. 2003; Rueda and Pontusson 2000;
in political institutions and policies, which in Wallerstein 1999).
turn perpetuated the vicious cycle of inequali By contrast, the neglect of politics in the
ty. If we accept that the high degree of eco study of inequality in the developing world has
nomic inequality in Latin America and the been striking. Since the publication of Kuznets'
Caribbean has been reproducing itself histori (1955) influential work, the cross-national quan
cally, at least in part, through political domina titative and more recently pooled time series
tion by an elite, then we would expect analyses of determinants of income inequality
differences among countries in political insti have been mostly the work of development soci
tutions and political power distributions to make ologists predominantly interested in the relative
contribution of variables related to economic
a difference for the degree of economic inequal
ity at the end of the 20th century. Specifically, development (educational expansion, the chang
we would expect that countries with longer ing weight of economic sectors, per capita
records of democracy would have lower degrees income), economic dependency and, in some
of inequality, because democracy over the long cases, political democracy.1 Variables related
term offers the possibility for the underprivi to politics (e.g., political parties, political insti
leged to organize and make their voices heard. tutions, public policy) are absent. This is hard
The prime instrument for influencing policy in ly because of the disciplinary neglect of such
variables in the theoretical literature in sociol
democracies is the political party. Political par
ties differ in their worldviews and commitments ogy. Most of the articles by sociologists cite
to redistribution and their corresponding appeals the modern classic on inequality, by Lenski
to the electorate. Accordingly, we would expect
(1966), whose explanation for the decline of
countries with stronger party blocs committed
inequality in the course of industrialization
(Kuznet's inverted U-curve) emphasizes power
to redistribution (i.e., stronger party blocs to
and politics. One reason for this neglect is rather
the left of center) to have less inequality. Finally,
prosaic: international organizations such as the
the main ways that parties influence the distri
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World
bution of income is through legislation on pub
Bank, the International Labor Organization
lic expenditure and on regulation of labor
(ILO), and the United Nations (UN) provide
markets. Accordingly, we would expect coun
tries with more redistributive expenditures and
stronger pro-labor legislation to have lower
degrees of inequality. 1 Of the 24 references to journal articles on the
There is good theory supported by firm evi determinants of income inequality in cross-national
dence about the interrelationships of politics, samples appearing in the reference lists of three
welfare states, labor market policy, and inequal recent articles on the subject (Alderson and Nielsen
1999; Lee 2005; Rudra 2004), 16 were in sociology
ity in advanced industrial societies. A synthet
journals and 5 were in political science journals.
ic theoretical framework building on power Four of the authors or coauthors of these articles
resources theory, state-centric approaches, and
were political scientists. The remainder were sociol
the logic of industrialism explains the develop ogists. Other than regime type, the only political
ment of generous and redistributive social and variables appearing in these analyses were public
labor market policies as conditioned by the expenditure in two very recent articles (Lee 2005;
strength of social democratic parties and labor Rudra 2004) and government revenue in an early
movements, women's mobilization, and cen contribution (Rubinson 1976).
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 945
data on income inequality, but rarely for the compare the findings from two very different
kinds of variables (e.g., distribution of votes, regions. We are NOT generalizing from the
parliamentary seats, cabinet seats across parties, region with the highest inequality to other areas
and institutional forms of government) used in of the world. These findings are important for
recent studies on the determinants of inequali practical political reasons. Policy is to a con
ty in advanced industrial societies. siderable degree a matter of choice and under
In this article, we analyze pooled time series the control of human agents, albeit under
data on Latin America and the Caribbean from resource and institutional constraints. Some
1970 to 2000 that include political variables policies are more effective in reducing inequal
collected by our research team. We explore the ity than others, and some institutional config
applicability of politics-oriented models of urations are more likely than others to produce
income inequality that have been developed for agents and policies that reduce inequality. The
OECD countries to the very different context of knowledge of which policy and institutional
Latin America and the Caribbean. Our theoret configurations are most equity enhancing can
ical rationale is that if we can find similar causal empower actors to work toward strengthening
dynamics of inequality in the very different his such institutions and supporting such agents
torical and structural context of Latin America and policies.
and the Caribbean on the one hand, and the
OECD countries on the other, then we can pro POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN
pose some theoretically powerful cross-region AMERICA
al generalizations and add to the cumulative
knowledge about politics and inequality. Although we expect political variables such as
Our rationale also is empirical. The Latin partisan legislative power, strength of demo
American and Caribbean region during the last cratic tradition, and the nature of social expen
decades of the 20th century, because of its ditures to be important in determining inequality
sociopolitical diversity, is ideally suited for levels in Latin America and the Caribbean, we
investigating the relationship between inequal suspect that these variables will have weights
different from those in advanced industrial soci
ity and the independent variables hypothesized
in the economic and sociological literature on eties and somewhat different effects. The region
development and dependency as well as in the does have a weaker record of democracy, less
political science literature on the politics of consolidated parties, and weaker organizations
inequality. Compared with other regions of the of the underprivileged, particularly, weaker labor
developing world, Latin America and the unions and weaker parties of the left. It also has
Caribbean exhibit more variation in indicators different labor markets, so similar policies may
have different effects.
of development and democracy. For example, of
the country-year observations in this analysis, In contrast to Latin America, advanced indus
50 percent classified the political regimes as full trial countries have uninterrupted records of
democracies, 26 percent as restricted democra democracy, at least since 1945,2 and they all
have constructed welfare states that redistribute
cies, and the remainder as authoritarian regimes
income. These welfare states redistribute income
or colonies. There also is significant variation
in the vote and seat distribution of the parties downward across income groups, not only
in the legislature as well as the political color across generations. The magnitude of redistri
ing of the chief executive. There is similarly bution depends on both the overall size of the
welfare state and the structure of taxation and
wide variation in development, with the per
capita income, for example, ranging from expenditures (Bradley et al. 2003). These struc
$1,906 to $19,103. tures in turn are shaped by power constellations
The results presented later demonstrate that and political institutions (Hicks 1999; Huber and
politics do indeed matter for differences in the
degree of inequality. Thus, we replicate an
important finding from studies of advanced 2 The exceptions are Spain, Portugal, and Greece,
industrial societies: partisan power distribution which are excluded from the vast majority of cross
and democratic experience are important deter national statistical analyses of welfare states in
minants of income distribution. Note that we advanced industrial democracies.
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946 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
Stephens 2001; Swank 2002). Welfare states are Chile, Uruguay, and Costa Rica, have long been
most redistributive where left parties have been recognized as having more effective states and
in power for long periods, and the strength of left social policies than other countries. Mainwaring
parties in turn has been closely related historically and Scully (1995) clearly show important dif
to the strength of the labor movement. These ferences in the institutionalization of party sys
forces all have been weaker in Latin America and tems. In some countries, such as Brazil, stronger,
the Caribbean. more programmatic and disciplined parties have
Latin American and Caribbean countries were emerged more recently (Hagopian 2004). Luna
long dominated by large landholders dependent and Zechmeister (2005) demonstrate on the basis
on a large, cheap labor force. As in all societies, of elite and mass survey evidence that the degree
including those outside Latin America, such as of programmatic orientation and coherence of
Italy, Spain, and Prussia, in which large land political parties varies greatly between coun
holders played an important role in the national tries and between parties within the same coun
economy, they were determined and effective try. Moreover, Colomer and Escatel (2004) show
enemies of democracy (Moore, 1966; that citizens in Latin America find the left-right
Rueschemeyer, Stephens, and Stephens 1992). dimension meaningful for the structuring of pol
Restrictive labor legislation combined with the itics. Finally, the party affiliation and orientation
comparatively small size of the urban industrial of policymakers have been shown to affect pol
sector hampered the formation of broad-based icy (Murillo 2001, 2002). Taken together, all
unions with sufficient independence to challenge this evidence suggests that a theoretical per
existing institutions and acquire economic and spective that assigns an important role to regime
political clout. The weakness of democracy form and partisan politics in shaping income
obstructed the formation of strong political par distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean
ties in general, and combined with the weakness is worth pursuing.
of labor, hampered the development of parties to
the left of center, in particular. This, in turn, ham LITERATURE AND HYPOTHESES
pered forces that could build the redistributive
capacity of the state and shape a model of polit We build on the few studies that use multiple
ical economy that would produce growth with regression analyses of inequality in developing
equity. The comparatively small proportion of for countries. Morley's (2001) study examining the
mal sector employment meant that social secu determinants of differences in inequality of
rity schemes modeled after those in advanced income distribution among countries in Latin
industrial countries had very different effects, America combines multiple regression analyses
covering a much smaller proportion of the pop with nine country case studies. His variables
ulation, and thus being regressive instead of pro include national income, inflation, education,
gressive (Lindert, Skoufias, and Shapiro 2005). economic reform indices, and land distribution.
The neoliberal economic reforms of the past Studies of inequality in cross-regional mixed
three decades have had a further regressive samples of developed and developing countries
impact, largely due to the shrinking of the already (Alderson and Nielsen 1999; Lee 2005; Reuveny
small proportion of formal sector employment. and Li 2003) and in samples of developing coun
Most analysts of Latin American politics have tries (Rudra 2004) have paid particular attention
emphasized the contrast to advanced industrial to world system or globalization variables, along
societies and the pathologies of Latin American with demography and economic development.
states and party politics, such as lower stability Alderson and Nielsen (1999; see also Nielsen and
in interparty competition, weaker party roots in Alderson 1995) also examine the impact of dif
society, weaker programmatic or ideological ferential development across sectors, the size of
linkages between voters and parties, and high the agricultural labor force, and the spread of edu
ly personalistic party-voter linkages cation, whereas Reuveny and Li (2003) include
(Mainwaring andTorcal 2006). However, schol democracy, and Rudra (2004) and Lee (2005)
ars also have found very significant differences include government expenditures and democra
among countries of Latin America and the cy None of these authors analyze the effects of
Caribbean in terms of these and other dimen power distributions among political parties. Our
sions. For instance, some countries, such as main focus is on the impact of the strength of the
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 947
democratic tradition, two categories of social the legislature. We treat the variables from these
expenditures, and parties' political strength in other studies as control variables (Table 1).
Table 1. Variable Descriptions, Data Sources, and Hypothesized Effects for the Analyses of Income Inequality
Gross income indicator Coded 1 for Gini observations + or none United Nations Universi
that are calculated using gross Income Inequality Database
income or monetary gross Volume 2.0a (June 2005)
income.
Income definition indicator Coded 1 for Gini observations -/+ United Nations University World
that are calculated from Income Inequality Database,
surveys in which there is no Volume 2.0a (June 2005)
available information about
the income concept.3
Debt crisis period indicator Coded 1 for all observations + Author codings
falling in 1982-1989.
1990s period indicator Coded 1 for all observations - Author codings
falling in 1990-2000.
Economy and Demography
GDP per capita Gross domestic product per - or none World Bank World Development
capita in 1000's of constant Indicators CD (2003); Penn
purchasing power parity World Table Version 6.1
dollars.
Sector Dualism The absolute difference between + World Bank World Development
the percent of the labor force Indicators CD (2003);
in agriculture and agriculture International Labor
as a share of GDP. Organization's Online Labor
Statistics
(http://laborsta.ilo.org);
ECLAC's Statistical Yearbook
on Latin America and the
Caribbean (various years);
Alderson and Nielson (1999)
Employment in Employment in agriculture as a + World Bank World Development
agriculture percent of total employment. Indicators CD (2003);
International Labor
Organization's Online Labor
Statistics
(http://laborsta.ilo.org);
ECLAC's Statistical Yearbook
on Latin America and the
Caribbean (various years);
Alderson and Nielson (1999)
Inflation Annual percentage change in + IMF's International Financial
consumer prices. Statistics CD and Blyde and
Fernandez-Arias (2004)
Youth population Population aged 0 to 14 as a + World Bank World Development
percentage of total population. Indicators CD (2003)
Ethnic diversity Dummy variable coded 1 when at + Coding based on data presented in
least 20 percent, but not more De Ferranti et al. (2004)
than 80 percent of the popula
tion is ethnically diverse.
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948 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
Table 1. (Continued)
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 949
decision-making process are political parties, 1960s on inequality observed in the 1990s will
because the poor lack the connections and funds be weaker than the effect from 10 years of
to influence decision makers directly. However, repressive authoritarian rule observed in the
it takes time for parties to gain coherence and 1980s.
establish roots in social bases, for legislatures
to pass major pieces of legislation, and for that Political Parties
legislation to be implemented. In particular, it
takes time for parties representing the interests In democratic settings, the prime carriers of
of less privileged groups to consolidate and political worldviews and corresponding policy
gain representation in competition with parties orientations are political parties. We thus would
representing privileged groups and enjoying a expect the partisan balance of power to shape a
financial advantage. variety of policies that affect inequality over
In studies of income distribution in advanced the medium and long term. There is solid empir
industrial democracies, democracy does not ical evidence that the strength of left parties
figure as a variable because there are no non has a significant effect on the extent of redis
democratic cases outside southern Europe in tribution effected through the welfare state in
the post-World War II period. In contrast, Latin advanced industrial democracies (Bradley et
America and the Caribbean exhibit great vari al. 2003). Redistribution depends on both the
ation in the lengths of time that countries have size of the welfare state and its structure. Both
been democratic. Thus, we expect the countries left and Christian democratic parties favor large
with the longer democratic traditions to have welfare states, but left parties favor structures
lower inequality. Other studies have found such of transfers and services that benefit particularly
an effect (Burkhart 1997; Reuveny and Li 2003; lower income earners to a greater extent than do
Rudra 2004; but see Bollen and Jackman 1985),
Christian democratic parties. When in office
but they have measured the immediate pres for protracted periods, these parties indeed struc
ence of democracy in the year the dependent ture welfare states in accordance with these
variable was observed or the year before, not the
preferences (Huber and Stephens 2001).
strength of the democratic tradition, which is
In advanced industrial societies, the location
theoretically more appropriate.
of parties on the left-right spectrum, defined by
In addition to democracy, we consider the
the strength of commitments to use state
impact of different authoritarian regime types.
We do this because not all alternatives to democ resources to promote the goals of lessening
inequality, strengthening social solidarity, and
racy are equal. Indeed some nondemocracies,
serving the underprivileged versus fostering
such as the Peruvian military regime under
Velasco in 1968-1975, introduced redistributive growth, promoting individualism, and advanc
ing the interests of the privileged, is relatively
reforms and allowed few human rights viola
tions. Under the Velasco regime, popular organ clear in the minds of voters and political
izations flourished. Others, such as the observers. The parties have built reputations
bureaucratic authoritarian regimes in Argentina during repeated election campaigns, and in most
and Chile, redistributed income upward and cases, through their actions in the legislature. In
killed, tortured, and incarcerated thousands of most Latin American and Caribbean countries,
their citizens, particularly targeting leaders of the the shorter periods of democracy have offered
left, organized labor, and other social move fewer opportunities for parties to consolidate as
ments. In the former case, forces promoting organizations and to implant a clear image of
their worldviews and commitments in the minds
redistribution emerged strengthened from the
regime, whereas in the latter case, they emerged of voters and observers. Nevertheless, expert
greatly weakened. We therefore hypothesize surveys (i.e., the same procedure used to locate
that extended rule by repressive authoritarian parties on the left-right spectrum in advanced
regimes increases inequality. Yet, we expect this industrial countries [Castles and Mair 1984])
effect to begin fading after replacement of the yield classification of most parties in Latin
repressive regime with a democratic one. In America into the same left, center-left, center,
other words, we expect that the effect from 10 center-right, or right spectrum, with a residual
years of repressive authoritarian rule in the category of personalist parties and a small num
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950 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
ber of parties that cannot be classified measures, we also would expect to see a direct
(Coppedge 1997). effect of relative left party strength on inequal
The second dimension by which parties gen ity. In addition, we would expect a left-leaning
erally are classified in both advanced industri balance of legislative power to have a direct
al societies and Latin America is the impact, not mediated by social spending,
religious-secular dimension. In advanced indus through legislative and administrative meas
trial societies, Christian democratic parties have ures such as adjustments of the minimum wage,
indeed pursued a distinctive welfare state proj wage setting for public employees, and labor
ect. In Latin America, Christian parties are laws.
weaker and more heterogeneous, ranging from Center parties in Latin America and the
revolutionary left to conservative right Caribbean are those that base their appeals not
(Mainwaring and Scully 2003). We therefore did primarily on a socioeconomic agenda, but rather
not expect, nor did we find, an effect of Christian on noncontested values such as commitment
party strength on social expenditure patterns. to the rule of law, honest government, and com
We follow Coppedge (1997) and the con petent leadership. Accordingly, we would not
vention of conceptualizing the left-right loca expect any effects on inequality from a heavi
tion of parties on the basis of their ly centrist balance of partisan power.
socioeconomic agenda, as expressed in partisan In contrast, right-of-center parties are those
appeals and policy initiatives, adopting the clas that have generally based their appeals on
sifications provided by the expert surveys, growth, prosperity, and order and have protect
except in the case of the Peronists in Argentina ed the interests of business and of upper income
(see Data section), rather than the alternative earners. We therefore would expect a right-lean
conceptualization based on the original found ing balance of legislative power to increase
ing constituency of the party, such as organized inequality.
labor or the oligarchy. This is because the effect
of party strength on inequality depends on the Social Spending
policy orientation of the party, and the latter may
radically change over time. Cases in point are The prime policy instruments for shaping the
parties such as the Peronists in Argentina or distribution of income are taxes and social
the Revolutionary Institutionalist Party (PRI) in expenditures. In advanced industrial democra
Mexico, which are considered left of center? cies, the size of the welfare state is strongly
often called populist?because of their historic associated with reduction in inequality (Bradley
ties to the labor movement, ties cemented by et al. 2003). In Latin America and the Caribbean,
their founders (Kaufman and Segura-Ubiergo the evidence for the distributive impact of social
2001). Over time, these parties abandoned their spending is more mixed and tends to be differ
original commitments to redistribution. In the ent for different kinds of expenditures. Social
aftermath of the debt crisis, they even became security spending, particularly the largest share
champions of neoliberalism, favoring policies that goes to pensions, is generally regressive (de
that redistributed income upward and weak Ferranti et al. 2004; Lindert et al. 2005). Social
ened organized labor, their original ally. security schemes are typically tied to the formal
Conceptualizing such parties as left of center is sector and thus exclude the sizable informal
not theoretically meaningful. sector. Even within the formal labor force, more
Parties classified as left of center are those highly educated and more highly paid employ
that have favored redistributive policies. In con ees are the most likely to be covered by social
trast, right-of-center parties have favored growth security. Moreover, because benefits are tied
without regard for its distributive consequences. to earnings, the systems are highly segmented
Accordingly, we would expect to see some (IDB 1998:148). Furthermore, social security
impact of differences between the strength of benefits are very unequally distributed among
left-of-center parties and that of right-of-center those covered, not only because they are earn
parties on the level of public expenditures, and ings related, but even more so because different
thus indirectly on income distribution. To the schemes exist for different groups, with partic
extent that we are not able to capture the dis ular privileges for some, such as the military,
tributive structure of public programs in our police, upper level civil servants, judges, and the
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 951
like. Social security and welfare spending is are near the peak of the curve, and a few have
generally reported in one category by the passed the peak (IDB 1998:89). Thus, for the
International Monetary Fund (IMF). Where dis whole sample, we would expect the relationship
aggregated figures are available, they show that between economic development and inequali
more than 80 percent of the expenditures in ty to be mildly negative or neutral.
this category go to social security. Thus, we Much statistical research has been devoted to
expect higher social security and welfare spend establishing and explaining the U-curve rela
ing to increase inequality. tionship between economic development and
Spending on health and education represents inequality (e.g. Bollen and Jackman 1985;
an investment in human capital, and as such, a Crenshaw 1992; Muller 1985, 1988, 1989;
considerable lag is likely between the moment Nielsen 1994; Nielsen and Alderson 1995;
of expenditure and returns (in the form of Simpson 1990). Alderson and Nielsen (1999)
decreased inequality levels). Moreover, the dis emphasize the role of labor force shifts and sec
tributive effect of health and education expen toral dualism, along with demographic transi
diture depends on its allocation. For example, tion and the spread of education. Sectoral
spending on primary education is more redis dualism refers to the coexistence of a low-pro
tributive than spending on university educa ductivity traditional sector and a high-produc
tion. We do not have breakdowns for these tivity modern sector, and it is expected to
different allocations, but evidence from case contribute positively to overall inequality in a
studies cited by de Ferranti et al. (2004:263-5) society (Alderson and Nielsen 1999:610).
and from analyses by the IDB (1998:190-7) Alderson and Nielsen (1999:610), basing
and by Lindert et al. (2005) indicates that the their theory on Kuznets (1955), hypothesize
bulk of education spending is progressive, and that the shift of the labor force out of the agri
that health spending is slightly progressive or cultural sector is associated with increasing
neutral. Thus, we hypothesize an overall nega inequality because the degree of inequality with
tive effect of sustained high levels of expendi in the agricultural sector is assumed to be lower.
tures for health and education on inequality. Thus, size of the agricultural population would
In a recent pooled time series analysis of be negatively associated with inequality.
income inequality in a worldwide sample, Lee However, the assumption of lower inequality
(2005) shows that the impact of government within the agricultural sector for Latin America
spending on inequality is dependent on regime is questionable. Indeed, a comparison of Gini
type. In authoritarian regimes, greater govern indices based on urban and rural surveys con
ment spending is associated with greater tained in the full UNU-Wider (2005) data base
inequality. In democracies, greater government (described in the Data section) shows that
spending is associated with less inequality. This inequality in the rural samples in Latin America
is a very plausible hypothesis for social spend is generally higher than the national level.
ing in Latin America, where the main alterna Therefore, we would expect the opposite rela
tive to democracy has been right-wing tionship to hold in our set of countries: the larg
authoritarianism, not communism. It is likely er the proportion of the labor force in agriculture,
that the authoritarian elites in these countries the higher the degree of inequality.
often have protected and extended the privi
leged position of the upper income groups in the Inflation
social security system mentioned earlier, and
have shaped health and education spending such Morley (2001:72) argues that during periods
that it benefits upper income groups. of high inflation, labor markets adjust only with
a lag, which leads to a decrease in real wages,
Economic Development and that this decrease is particularly steep for the
minimum wage. Thus, high inflation drives up
Theories linking economic development and inequality. The IDB (1998:100-2) and World
inequality have been profoundly shaped by Bank studies (de Ferranti et al. 2004:11,231-9)
Kuznets' (1955) inverted U conjecture. Most of agree that macroeconomic shocks, which typ
the Latin American and Caribbean countries ically are accompanied by high inflation, have
are at medium levels of industrialization. Several a detrimental impact on inequality.
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952 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 953
University World Income Inequality Database, democracy). These categories are collapsed into
WIID (UNU-Wider 2005).3 Compiled using 0 (nondemocracy), .5 (restricted democracy),
several national sources, WIID represents a and 1 (full democracy). To measure democrat
major improvement in quality over the data of ic history, we cumulate the yearly scores begin
Deininger and Squire (1996a, 1996b), used ning in 1945.
most frequently in the past, which it subsumes. Legislative partisan balance is derived from
Each observation in the WIID is coded for its Coppedge (1997), who consulted country
quality, area of coverage, income-sharing unit, experts to classify political parties in 11 coun
unit of analysis, and use of a household size tries of Latin America into two primary dimen
equivalence scale. We selected observations sions and several residual categories. The
with the highest quality rating, eliminating those left-right dimension reflects a political party's
with expenditure, consumption, earnings, or ideology and class appeal as well as its relative
market income as the income concept, as well prioritization of growth and redistribution.
as those without coverage of the entire popula Coppedge's experts classified parties along this
tion. In the case of multiple observations for the dimension into five categories: left, center-left,
same year, we kept observations which have center, center-right, and right. For example, par
the individual as the unit of analysis and use an ties of the right presented themselves as, or
equivalence scale adjusted for household size. appealed to, heirs of traditional elites, fascists,
If multiple observations still existed, we took the neofascists, or the military with a conservative
average of the Gini values for the year in ques message. Experts classified parties as center
tion. We used indicator variables to control for right that "targeted middle- or lower-class vot
three remaining hypothesized sources of vari ers in addition to elite voters, by stressing
ation attributable to survey methodology: no cooperation with the private sector, public order,
adjustment for household size, use of gross ver clean government, morality, or the priority of
sus net income, and absence of information on growth over distribution." They classified par
the use of gross versus net income. In prelimi ties as centrist that "stressed classic political lib
nary analyses, we found that only the equiva eralism, the rule of law, human rights, or
lence scale indicator had a significant impact on democracy, without a salient social or economic
inequality, so we kept it in the final analyses and agenda." Also included in this category are
dropped the other two.4 "governing parties whose policies are so divid
The measure of democratic history is derived ed between positions both to the left and to the
from Rueschemeyer et al. (1992). Yearly democ right of center that no orientation that is most
racy scores are coded: 0 (colony), 1 (authori ly consistent between elections is discernible."
tarian regime), 2 (bureaucratic authoritarian Experts classified as center-left parties that
regime), 3 (restricted democracy), and 4 (full "stress justice, equality, social mobility, or the
complementarity of distribution and accumu
lation in a way intended not to alienate middle
or upper-class voters." Finally, they classified as
3 A more detailed explanation for the measurement
of the control variables can be found at the follow left parties that "employ Marxist ideology or
ing Web site: http://www.unc.edu/~jdsteph/ rhetoric and stress the priority of distribution
index.html. over accumulation and/or the exploitation of
4 Because household size in Latin America and the the working class by capitalists and imperialists
Caribbean varies inversely with income, we expect and advocate a strong role for the state to cor
ed no adjustment for household size to result in lower rect social and economic injustices" (see
inequality. By contrast, we did not expect the use of Coppedge 1997 for more details).5
gross (vs net income) to greatly affect the inequali
ty measure in Latin America and the Caribbean,
where direct taxes represent a small percentage of
GDP (contra Deininger and Squire 1996a). Even in 5 The second primary dimension in Coppedge's
the OECD countries, direct taxes do not affect much (1997) classification is the religious one, with two cat
redistribution (Mahler and Jesuit 2005). Likewise, we egories: Christian and secular. Because we found that
did not expect the absence of information about gross the religious dimension made no difference for our
versus net income to make much difference. dependent variable, we combined the Christian and
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954 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 955
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956 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
Social Stock
Ideological Security Health of
Years Center Repressive & and Foreign
Gini of of Authoritarian Welfare Education Sector Direct
Coefficient Democracy Gravity Regimes Expenditure Expenditure Dualism Investment
Argentina 36.1 9.0 -.1 6.5 3.9 1.3 4.4 6.6
Chile 54.9 18.0 -.3 10.5 8.9 6.4 8.9 23.2
Costa Rica 47.2 39.4 1.2 0 3.6 8.5 9.6 23.5
Mexico 53.0 .4 -.2 0 3.1 4.4 21.6 10.0
Bolivia 59.8 19.0 -3.8 0 5.3 5.0 18.4 45.5
Brazil 59.3 12.9 -.8 9.9 8.0 3.4 20.1 10.0
Colombia 57.1 19.9 -2.4 0 1.2 4.8 5.5 8.3
Peru 54.5 10.8 1.6 0 1.1 4.3 27.6 9.0
Venezuela 47.5 34.7 2.8 0 2.5 5.5 6.7 14.6
Bahamas 46.2 11.3 2.6 0 1.0 7.3 2.3 80.4
Barbados 46.4 12.0 5.8 0 5.0 11.2 1.6 32.6
Jamaica 57.9 33.7 -.4 0 .5 8.5 14.7 29.9
Trinidad & Tobago 43.9 16.5 7.2 0 1.8 4.0 8.8 32.8
Dominican Republic 48.1 12.3 .8 0 .8 3.6 8.4 10.9
El Salvador 51.2 5.4 -6.2 3.3 .7 3.9 13.1 5.3
Guatemala 56.4 7.7 -3.1 8.7 .6 2.5 23.1 17.9
Nicaragua 55.7 4.5 2.0 .5 4.5 7.0 9.3 13.6
Panama_57.0 11.0 -2.9 0_5.2 9.6 12.9 54.0
Notes: These are means for the years of observation we have in our data set only; they can not
means for the entire period from 1970 to 2000.
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 957
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958 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 959
Another way to evaluate the explanatory policies related to inequality than the political
power of the political variables in Model 4 is to coloring of the executive.
estimate the unit change in the Gini caused by In past presentations of this and related analy
an increase from the 10th to the 90th percentile ses, we often have been asked whether the inclu
in an independent variable. A move of this size sion of the English-speaking Caribbean (4
on the democracy-social security spending countries, 20 observations in this analysis) bias
interaction term results in a 5.2-unit decrease in es the analysis. Latin America specialists, in
the Gini. (Concretely, in the data, this corre particular, often argue that the recent colonial
sponds to a movement from Brazil in 1970 to history of the English Caribbean results in very
Venezuela in 1996.) A move from the 10th to the different political dynamics in those countries.
90th percentile in the legislative partisan balance Two tests indicate that the inclusion of these
results in a 4.3-unit decrease in the Gini, and an countries did not make a difference. A dichoto
equivalent difference in social security and wel mous indicator for the English Caribbean was
fare spending results in a 2.3-unit increase in the not significant when added to the equations,
Gini. In comparison, a move from the 10th to and excluding the 20 English Caribbean obser
the 90th percentile of the most powerful control vations entirely did not change the results.
variable, sector dualism, results in a 4.4-unit
increase in the Gini: inward stock of foreign DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
investment in a 1.5-unit increase and GDP per
capita in a 1.4-unit decrease. Our analysis strongly supports our theoretical
The most consistently significant control claims regarding the importance of politics in
variables are ethnic heterogeneity, foreign direct shaping the extent of economic inequality in
investment, and sector dualism. The result of Latin American and Caribbean countries. We
sector dualism confirms the findings in other found evidence that the strength of the demo
studies that the coexistence of a high-produc cratic record, the cumulative record of the
tivity modern and a low-productivity tradition strength of left-of-center parties in the legisla
al agrarian sector increases inequality (Alderson ture, and the interaction of social security spend
and Nielsen 1999). As to the impact of accu ing and democracy all have significant impacts
mulated foreign investment, there is a long on lowering inequality.
research tradition, originating with the depend Democracy matters for inequality in at least
ency school, which emphasized the inegalitar two ways. It matters over the longer term
ian consequences of foreign direct investment. because it allows those leaders concerned with
This investment tends to be more capital inten the welfare of the underprivileged to build
sive than domestic investment, and it creates rel organizations in the form of political parties
atively few jobs, all in the formal sector. In and allows those parties to build a support base,
addition, foreign investors have leverage con gain influence in the legislature, and use that
cerning demands for tax breaks, which may influence to shape policies in a redistributive
constrain the government's resource base and direction. It also matters because it induces
thus its ability to pursue redistributive policies. political leaders in general to be more respon
We also estimated the models of Table 3 sive to the underprivileged. When we control for
using executive partisan balance instead of leg legislative partisan balance, the interaction effect
islative partisan balance. The results (not shown) of spending and democracy remains signifi
are similar to those in Table 3. However, the unit cant, which indicates that expenditures on social
decrease in the Gini caused by an increase from security and welfare programs in countries with
the 10th to the 90th percentile in the executive strong democratic records have a more redis
partisan balance (2.2) is smaller than that caused tributive effect than in countries with weak dem
by a similar increase in the legislative partisan ocratic records. This effect is easy to understand
balance (4.3), and the explained variation is if we keep in mind that the alternative to democ
smaller (70 vs 73 percent). Thus, contrary to the racy in Latin America in the great majority of
often heard assertion that the composition of the cases has been right-wing authoritarianism, not
legislature does not matter much for policy in communism or other forms of left-wing author
Latin America because of overpowering exec itarianism. The effect of partisan legislative bal
utives, we find that it is more important for ance is as strong as that of the strongest control
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960 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW
variable, sector dualism, and stronger than that bution. Numerous studies that break down the
of the gross national product (GNP) per capita. Luxembourg Income Study micro data for var
The reason why health and education spend ious countries by program show that almost all
ing was not significant in our model is perhaps welfare state transfers, including pensions, have
because the bulk of that spending is distribu an equalizing effect on income distribution,
tionally neutral, or because the effect is indirect some more than others.13 By contrast, the few
and there is a lag between spending and effect. studies of micro data investigating income dis
Recent studies of micro data suggest that even tribution in Latin America show that social
where health and education spending is pro security transfers go disproportionately to upper
gressive, it is only mildly so (Lindert et al. income groups (de Ferranti et al. 2004; IDB
2005). Progressive spending on health and edu 1998; Lindert et al. 2005). In countries with
cation is an investment in the human capital of long records of democracy, such as Uruguay and
those at the lower end of the income distribu Costa Rica, pension systems tend to be less
tion, and it takes a generation for current spend fragmented, and minimum or noncontributory
ing to show a return on that investment, and thus pensions tend to be better developed than aver
an effect on income distribution. age, which makes them more egalitarian (Huber
It is worthwhile to compare our results with and Stephens 2005). Moreover, other categories
those of recent pooled time series analyses of of welfare spending are larger and more redis
income distribution in worldwide sets of coun tributive. It is no accident that in these two
tries (Alderson and Nielsen 1999; Lee 2005; countries, left-of-center parties also have had
Nielsen and Alderson 1995; Reuveny and Li strong representation in the legislature over a
2003), less developed countries (Rudra 2004), long period. Thus, the general theoretical argu
and Latin American and Caribbean countries ment about the importance of the partisan bal
(Morley 2001). All these studies except that of ance of power in the legislature, rooted in power
Nielsen and Alderson (1995) use the Deininger constellation theory (Huber and Stephens 2001),
and Squire (1996b) data. Morley adds the has explanatory power for Latin America and the
Londono and Szekely (1997) data. Nielsen and Caribbean as well as for advanced industrial
Alderson, Alderson and Nielsen, and Lee all countries.
find that inward stock of foreign capital is pos The finding that politics matter for income
itively related to inequality, a conclusion con distribution in advanced industrial countries is
firmed by our results for Latin America. Lee well established, despite the recognition that
(2005) finds, as we do, that the impact of aggre constraints from economic globalization have
gate government spending on inequality reduced the policy tools available to govern
depends on the political regime: Alderson and ments. The finding that politics also matter in
Nielsen and Lee find no significant effect of Latin America and the Caribbean is of particu
democracy on inequality, whereas Rudra and lar importance because the constraints imposed
Reuveny and Li find, as we do, that it has a neg by powerful actors in the global economy are
ative effect. One reason explaining our stronger more severe. Indeed, it is often alleged that they
results for democracy may be the difference in reduce the room for maneuver of governments
the measures: other studies use a measure for in the region so much that these governments are
one time point, whereas we operationalize the unable to construct decent social safety nets
history of democratic rule. Finally, we find at and reduce income inequality.
least some evidence to support Morley's find The central implications of our results are that
ing that inflation increases inequality in Latin the deep historical structural roots of inequali
America and the Caribbean. ty in Latin America and the Caribbean weigh
Our results for Latin America and the heavily on income distribution at the beginning
Caribbean partly square with, but also differ of the 21st century, but that they are not
from, the results for advanced capitalist democ
racies. Alderson and Nielsen (2002) and
Gustafsson and Johannson (1999) find that 13 These are too numerous to cite. A large number
social spending is very strongly related to of them appear in the Luxembourg Income Study
income equality in advanced capitalist democ (LIS) working paper series (which can be accessed
racies, and Bradley et al. (2003) show that it is at http://www.lisproject.org/publications/
very strongly related to governmental redistri wpapers.htm).
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POLITICS AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN 961
immutable. We have shown that politics do parative social stratification and mobility (across
societies, across U.S. counties, and over time, with
make a difference. Prolonged periods of dem
ocratic rule allow for articulation of the inter a special focus on income inequality), mechanisms
of sociocultural evolution (using cross-cultural data),
ests of the underprivileged. Democracy does
and ways that social structure conditions the roles of
not guarantee that these interests will be artic genes and environment in socioeconomic outcomes.
ulated, much less that they will be protected. Some of his articles on these topics have appeared
However, democracy does increase the proba in the American Journal of Sociology, the American
bility that this will happen in Latin America. The Sociological Review, Social Forces, and Sociological
articulation of interests of the underprivileged Theory
through left parties can?if left parties grow Jennifer Pribble is a doctoral candidate in Political
sufficiently strong to achieve legislative influ Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
ence?shape a whole range of policies to reduce Hill. She currently is conducting her dissertation
inequality, including spending on social secu field research in Chile and Uruguay with support
rity and welfare. from the Ford Foundation and the Organization of
To date, the strength of the democratic record American States. Her research focuses on issues of
poverty and inequality in Latin America. She recent
and of left influence in the legislatures has been
ly published the article, "Women and Welfare: the
sufficient to allow for modest departures only
Politics of Coping with New Social Risks in Chile and
in strengthening of the fiscal base of govern Uruguay," in the Latin American Research Review,
ments and in increasing and restructuring of 41:2, 2006.
public expenditures with an emphasis on redis
John D. Stephens is the Gerhard E. Lenski, Jr.
tributive transfer programs, primary and sec
Distinguished Professor of Political Science and
ondary education, and preventive and basic Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel
health care. Where left-of-center parties have Hill. His main interests are comparative social pol
had influence on politics over the medium and icy and political economy, with area foci on Europe,
long term, they have had some impact on the the Antipodes, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He
construction of basic social safety nets in the is the author or coauthor of four books including
form of noncontributory, tax-financed trans Capitalist Development and Democracy (with
fers to the working-age poor with children and Evelyne Huber and Dietrich Rueschemeyer, 1992)
and Development and Crisis of the Welfare State
to the elderly poor. However, for newly emerg
(with Evelyne Huber, 2001) and numerous journal
ing left-wing parties, generating new resources articles.
through tax reform has been as politically dif
ficult, as has restructuring of the old inegali
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