Abstract:
Recent increases in economic inequality have raised concerns about political inequality. Much of the ensuing and vibrant political inequality literature focuses on high-income democracies. At the same time, for low and middle-income countries, an extensive distributive politics literature emphasizes the electoral, rather than welfare, motivations behind allocative decisions. This paper brings together insights from these two literatures to examine political inequality at the local level in Brazil and South Africa, two of the world's most unequal countries. We develop a conceptual framework distinguishing between "unequal responsiveness" (whether richer citizens have more influence over policy decisions) and "unequal outputs" (whether municipal spending disproportionately benefits wealthier areas). Using survey data on local policy priorities and municipal budget allocations, we assess whether spending aligns more closely with the preferences of wealthier citizens and whether municipal funds are disproportionately allocated to wealthier neighborhoods. Our findings indicate both unequal responsiveness and unequal outputs in the two countries. Spending aligns more closely with wealthier citizens' preferences. Additionally, municipal funds tend to be allocated disproportionately to wealthier areas, even after controlling for other factors, such as utilitarian or electoral considerations.
 
About the presenter:
Miquel is professor of inequality and poverty at the Center for Conflict Studies and a research affiliate at SALDRU. His current research studies the nexus between inequality, distributive politics and political behaviour. Miquel is currently visiting SALDRU as part of an ongoing project on wealth inequality with ACEIR. This talk draws from a current project that he, Leticia, Nils and Eva are conducting in South Africa and Brazil. Eva and Leticia will be joining us for the seminar.