5 - Social-Sector Spending Targeting the Poor

Summary

The magnitude of government-provided pro-poor social services is the product of the overall budget allocation for social services and the degree to which this budget is concentrated to the poor. Enormous variation exists in how governments finance and deliver social services, and how these services can be targeted especially to the poor. This chapter highlights the psychological bases for supporting or opposing additional government spending that directly targets the poor by focusing on two cases of wide swings in such funding: Argentinaand Brazil. The psychological dynamics include the presumption of malice toward outgroup leaders involved in policy disagreements. The ebullient moods during economic booms, as shown in the Braziliancase, can overcome the polarizationthat attributions of malice can create. Thus, the Brazilian case demonstrates the possibility of inducing noblesse obligesentiment to counter the shame that would erode the self-esteemof the relatively prosperous, for whom the national identification has been highly salient. Yet, the swings in mood can reverse this sentiment dramatically. Argentina, in particular, lacking the sustained booms that have created optimismduring periods in Brazil, demonstrates the powerful impact of extreme stereotyping, stark polarization, fraternal deprivation, and the dynamics of mutual disdain.