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Unequal Democracy in Brazil and South Africa

This project studies political inequality in Brazil and South Africa. An emerging literature on this question consistently finds that poorer citizens get less from politics than richer citizens, but most of these studies focus on national-level laws in Western countries. We examine this question in Brazil and South Africa, looking not only at national laws but also at spending at the municipal level. We ask: Do local governments in Brazil and South Africa spend more in wealthier or poorer neighbourhoods? Are national laws more in line with the preferences of richer or poorer citizens? To answer these questions, we collect data from several sources. We also seek to explain the political inequality we estimate in terms of differences in political behaviour and political institutions, using quantitative analysis complemented by elite interviews.

Duration: 2023-2026
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Coordination: Prof. Dr. Miquel Pellicer, Prof. Dr. Eva Wegner
Team: Miquel Pellicer, Eva Wegner and Leticia Barbabela