The subnational method and social policy provision: socioeconomic context, political institutions and spatial inequality

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the possibilities and challenges posed to the analysis of public policy implementation from a subnational perspective. It focuses on three central aspects: (1) the methodological opportunities offered by the subnational comparative method to understand public policy within countries; (2) the intersection of the economy and demography as conditioner of the localization of needs and the formation of spatially heterogeneous demands; and (3) the spatial specialization of provision due to variations in institutional structures and policy design. These ideas are illustrated using Brazilian social policies as cases in order to demonstrate how economic, demographic and politico-institutional characteristics at the subnational level alter the implementation of public policies and, therefore, generate inequalities of access to welfare.