This paper aims at analyzing the contribution of social policies to declining rates of income inequalities in Brazil since the 1990s. Based on a framework of historical institutionalism, Brazil is characterised as a traditionally patrimonial society, marked by the institution of slavery....

This paper aims at analyzing the effects of social policies on income inequalities in South Africa since the 1990s. Based on a framework of historical institutionalism, the heritage of a distributional regime based on institutional racism is highlighted. This had lasting effects on social...

The epigraph is emblematic of an orthodox theoretical view that ‘only in a wealthy society could a situation exist in which the mass of the population could intelligently participate in politics’ and that this relationship is universal and applicable cross time and space. Comparing ancient...