Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Ideas Matter

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Behavioral Economics
    • Environment and Climate Change
    • Macroeconomics and Finance
    • Microeconomics and Competitiveness
    • Politics and Institutions
    • Social Issues
  • Authors
  • Spanish
analisis redes sociales politicas publicas America Latina Caribe-min

Using Social Network Analysis to Identify Decision-Makers and Improve Public Policy

November 5, 2020 by Carlos Scartascini 1 Comment


Latin America has achieved significant social progress in recent decades. From the 1990s through 2019, poverty fell by almost 50 percent: mortality in children under five was cut by more than half; and primary school education became nearly universal. But while significant investment was made to accomplish those outcomes, much more could have been achieved if it wasn’t for serious inefficiencies and leakages as well as a pro-rich bias in the design and implementation of programs. As a result of these factors almost 50% of the beneficiaries of noncontributory pensions are not poor; spending on tertiary education tends to favor the highest quintiles in the income distribution, and health services flow to those who can best afford them rather than those most in need.  Some programs are just ineffective, and money could be spent elsewhere.   

These failings, as well as others, are not just a problem in the formal structures of power or the technical design of policies. They have a lot to do with who the key actors are, how they relate to each other, and how money, information, and ideas flow. In practice the networks of relationships that determine how policy decisions are made and implemented are often very different from that spelled out in constitutions and laws. And those networks can be decisive. With this dynamic in mind, Alejandro Bonvecchi and I recently published Who Decides Social Policy, a book-length study that uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to identify who, when and how social policy comes into being with the aim of improving policy targeting and effectiveness.

Social Network Analysis and Government Failures

The book emphasis on the characteristics, motivations and interactions of key players helps to explain much of what has gone wrong in recent years. It helps illuminate, among many other things, why protesters took to the streets in fury in 2019 over poor services and vast inequalities in many countries of the region.

But its focus is not just historical. By highlighting the social relationships that lead to decision-making in both presidential and parliamentary  systems and in small versus large nations and economies — the book sheds light on areas where corrections might be made in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its case studies from Argentina (during the Mauricio Macri administration) The Bahamas, Bolivia (during the  Evo Morales administration) and Trinidad and Tobago reveal how a focus on the real actors behind social policy can improve coordination between different governmental and non-governmental bodies, boost the delivery of vital services, and mitigate inequalities in the context of a health and economic crisis in which budgets are either stagnant or dropping during this moment of crisis.  

Many actors are involved in policymaking. They range from  the president or prime minister, to electors in small rural communities, and members of congress or parliament. They include public opinion leaders, officials at different government levels, unions, business associations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and social movements. The complex interaction between these different players and the extent to which they are well coordinated helps determine whether decision-making is strongly institutionalized, stable and has long-term horizons; whether, in essence, it is effective.

Who decides on Social Policy?

The Problem of Fragmentation in the Making of Public Policy

We interviewed a huge number of officials in 350 different institutions to map out these relationships in our study of the four countries. It was clear how much policymaking in practice often deviates from the formal structures laid out to achieve it and how the lack of effective coordination can lead to less than ideal policies.         

Much of the problem, it appears, has to do with the very large number of agents that participate in the political process, each with their own interests and incentives. While incorporating ideas and information from many sources is important, the fragmentation of political power can lead to situations in which key institutions like congress and  political parties  are left out of decision-making and the technical capacity of the civil service is underutilized. 

Where too many actors intervene and power is not hierarchical and centralized, social policy ministries may also fail to communicate and collaborate with each other, leading to poorly coordinated and inefficient policies. An additional effect may be a high turnover of the personnel in the ministries and a resulting deterioration in the ability of the civil service to respond to important challenges.  All this needs to be taken into account in the search for more stable, coherent, and coordinated decision-making.    

Social Network Analysis and International Organizations

Social Network Analysis (SNA) reveals many aspects of the policymaking process that usually remain hidden with the use of more traditional analytical tools. It is useful too for international financial institutions and multilateral development banks that risk greatly diminished influence if out of ignorance, bureaucratic or  historical reasons, they maintain most of their dialogue with actors who are not central to the decision-making process. We hope that our use of SNA in this in-depth study  will shed light on where improvements can be made and how governments might adjust to better serve their citizens. We hope it can also provide multilateral organizations and donors with insight that they can similarly use to help countries improve their policy-making processes. There are too few resources and too much at stake at present to risk inefficiencies and leakages in the delivery of vital social services. There are too many lives on the line to risk fragmentation and poor coordination when so much needs to be done in the pandemic and post-pandemic period.        


Filed Under: Politics and Institutions, Social Issues

Carlos Scartascini

Carlos Scartascini is Head of the Development Research Group at the Research Department and Leader of the Behavioral Economics Group of the Inter-American Development Bank. He has published eight books and more than 60 articles in academic journals and edited volumes. He is a member of the Executive Committee of IDB's Gender and Diversity Lab, member of the Board of Advisors of the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, Associate Editor of the academic journal Economía, and Founding Member of LACEA's BRAIN (Behavioral Insights Network). A native of Argentina, Dr. Scartascini holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Economics from George Mason University.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rafael Chaves MD,MBA,MSc says

    November 5, 2020 at 2:36 pm

    Carlos, this is great work ! thanks for sharing. With the recent digital mindset adoption due to COVID, this position refreshes and also improves the policy design and development innovation space. I have been working in 3 LATAM countries to leverage digital platforms for public policy. I will reach out to you via LinkedIn to explore best practices exchange if it is of interest.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Related posts

  • Too Much of a Good Thing? Grassroots Participation in Bolivian Social Policy
  • Who Decides Social Policy?
  • Revisiting Policymaking in a Troubled Region
  • A Public Policy Report Card for the Region
  • Promoting Competition to Boost Welfare Through Social Programs

About this blog

The blog of the IDB's Research Department shares ideas that matter on public policy and development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

Blog posts written by Bank employees:

Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


For blogs written by external parties:

For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

Aviso Legal

Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

facebook
twitter
youtube
This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
To learn more about cookies, click here
X
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT