Conditional cash transfer programs and their electoral effects
How does the population of inegalitarian countries react to their governments’ initiatives to fight poverty and reduce inequality? Numerous studies published recently assume that the level of income inequality determines the level of popular support for redistribution. The most influential theoretical framework in this research agenda has been proposed by Meltzer and Richard (1981), who assume that preferences for redistribution are a function of the individual’s location in the national income distribution. According to them, the difference between the median voter’s income and the average income in the economy indicates how much she gains from redistribution and, since she is the decisive voter, it also determines the size of redistributive programs that are implemented by the government.