The Latin American Social Protection Systems in Action: Triggers and Outcomes of Reforms at the Start of the Twenty-First Century

This chapter discusses the historical forms that the distributive conflict has assumed in Latin America and its results in terms of welfare during the twentieth century up to the present. From this point of view, the intention is to identify comparatively the main factors that explain the emergence and consolidation of the incomplete regional Social States, which gave rise to specific social protection regimes. The adoption of different strategies for achieve economic development and the stability of the democratic systems have had a strong impact on the processes of expansion and retrenchment of public social goods delivered to a variety of population groups. The introduction ends with the presentation of the main contents of each chapter, which combined, analyse the particularities of Latin American welfare and its future perspectives.