State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region
Social contracts and state fragility represent two sides of one coin. The former concept highlights that governments need to deliver three “Ps”—<i>protection</i>, <i>provision</i>, and political <i>participation</i>—to be acceptable for societies, whereas the latt...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/447 |
| _version_ | 1797500594870550528 |
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| author | Markus Loewe Tina Zintl |
| author_facet | Markus Loewe Tina Zintl |
| author_sort | Markus Loewe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social contracts and state fragility represent two sides of one coin. The former concept highlights that governments need to deliver three “Ps”—<i>protection</i>, <i>provision</i>, and political <i>participation</i>—to be acceptable for societies, whereas the latter argues that states can fail due to lack of <i>authority</i> (inhibiting protection), <i>capacity</i> (inhibiting provision), or <i>legitimacy</i>. Defunct social contracts often lead to popular unrest. Using empirical evidence from the Middle East and North Africa, we demonstrate how different notions of state fragility lead to different kinds of grievances and how they can be remedied by measures of social protection. Social protection is always a key element of government <i>provision</i> and hence a cornerstone of all social contracts. It can most easily counteract grievances that were triggered by decreasing <i>provision</i> (e.g., after subsidy reforms in Iran and Morocco) but also partially substitute for deficient protection (e.g., by the Palestinian National Authority, in pre-2011 Yemen) or <i>participation</i> (information campaign accompanying Moroccan subsidy cut; participatory set-ups for cash-for-work programmes in Jordan). It can even help maintain a minimum of state–society relations in states defunct in all three Ps (e.g., Yemen). Hence, social protection can be a powerful instrument to reduce state fragility and mend social contracts. Yet, to be effective, it needs to address grievances in an inclusive, rule-based, and non-discriminatory way. In addition, to gain legitimacy, governments should assume responsibility over social protection instead of outsourcing it to foreign donors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b41f3607e78649508c40fd1b817fd10c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:04Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b41f3607e78649508c40fd1b817fd10c2023-11-23T10:33:51ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602021-11-01101244710.3390/socsci10120447State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) RegionMarkus Loewe0Tina Zintl1German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Tulpenfeld 6, D-53113 Bonn, GermanyGerman Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Tulpenfeld 6, D-53113 Bonn, GermanySocial contracts and state fragility represent two sides of one coin. The former concept highlights that governments need to deliver three “Ps”—<i>protection</i>, <i>provision</i>, and political <i>participation</i>—to be acceptable for societies, whereas the latter argues that states can fail due to lack of <i>authority</i> (inhibiting protection), <i>capacity</i> (inhibiting provision), or <i>legitimacy</i>. Defunct social contracts often lead to popular unrest. Using empirical evidence from the Middle East and North Africa, we demonstrate how different notions of state fragility lead to different kinds of grievances and how they can be remedied by measures of social protection. Social protection is always a key element of government <i>provision</i> and hence a cornerstone of all social contracts. It can most easily counteract grievances that were triggered by decreasing <i>provision</i> (e.g., after subsidy reforms in Iran and Morocco) but also partially substitute for deficient protection (e.g., by the Palestinian National Authority, in pre-2011 Yemen) or <i>participation</i> (information campaign accompanying Moroccan subsidy cut; participatory set-ups for cash-for-work programmes in Jordan). It can even help maintain a minimum of state–society relations in states defunct in all three Ps (e.g., Yemen). Hence, social protection can be a powerful instrument to reduce state fragility and mend social contracts. Yet, to be effective, it needs to address grievances in an inclusive, rule-based, and non-discriminatory way. In addition, to gain legitimacy, governments should assume responsibility over social protection instead of outsourcing it to foreign donors.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/447state fragilitysocial contractsocial protectionMiddle East and North Africastate–society relationsprotection |
| spellingShingle | Markus Loewe Tina Zintl State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region Social Sciences state fragility social contract social protection Middle East and North Africa state–society relations protection |
| title | State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region |
| title_full | State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region |
| title_fullStr | State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region |
| title_full_unstemmed | State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region |
| title_short | State Fragility, Social Contracts and the Role of Social Protection: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region |
| title_sort | state fragility social contracts and the role of social protection perspectives from the middle east and north africa mena region |
| topic | state fragility social contract social protection Middle East and North Africa state–society relations protection |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/447 |
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