Social Contract Dynamics and the Role of Non-State Actors in Social Cash Transfers

Although publicly managed social protection and cash-transfer programs have been extensively scrutinized, hardly any studies exist of programs managed by non-state actors, such as NGOs and humanitarian organisations. Research on publicly managed social protection programs show that their politicization as part of political survival strategies and capture by ruling elites can have state-bolstering effects and improve state-society relations by creating new social contract dynamics. However, we know little about the political economy outcomes and politicization of privately managed cash transfers. In this paper we develop a theoretically informed model to explore the political economy implications and social contract dynamics of the relationships between the state/ruling elites, NGOs and humanitarian organizations (non-state actors) implementing cash transfers, and the target populations. The relational approach we develop draws on the bodies of literature on state-based social cash transfers, but expands it to go beyond the implications for different types of social and fiscal contract to include other kinds of exchange relations. This requires a return to foundational anthropological discussions concerning market and non-market exchanges and their outcomes. This work forms part of the CASH-IN research program hosted by Roskilde University.