people who are close to the income cutoff for Bolsa eligibility, it is possible to compare communities on the basis of the ratio of MDS registrants to Bolsa recipients. I will separate municipalities into three groups: those in which more than 75 percent of MDS registrants receive benefits, those in which less than 25 percent of registrants receive benefits, and those in which the ratio of beneficiaries to registrants ranges from 25 to 75 percent. If the mean PT vote share differs between groups, there is reason to believe that the Bolsa’s role in shaping voter preferences is different from the effects of poverty. Conclusion
Many of the countries interested in implementing CCT programs
are young democracies. In such countries, it is easier for political parties to exploit the resources of the state to build patronage networks and dominate the political scene (Sartori 1976; Templeman 2010). An unscrupulous party might try to build a national political machine around a large CCT program. For this reason, it is essential that governments and international aid organizations understand how CCT programs shape politics in the countries that use them. The Bolsa FamĂlia has lifted millions of people out of extreme poverty; other CCT programs have done the same. Better understanding of the Bolsa might make it possible to know what kinds of institutional arrangements must be in place for CCT programs to succeed.
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Excellence in Upper-Level Writing 2012