Few developing countries have succeeded in simultaneously providing good jobs and access to social services for all. Large informal sectors and segmented social policies that provide benefits to only a small minority are among the problems that have hampered developing countries' ability to secure the double incorporation to the market and to social services. This book reviews Costa Rica's experience as one of the few successful exceptions. The authors concentrate on the essential role of the state in expanding public employment, promoting small firms and cooperatives and creating generous and universal social services. In explaining why the state implemented these policies, the authors go beyond dominant democraticcentred explanations and highlight the emergence of a new elite of small and medium producers, and the role of international ideas. The book also recognizes Costa Rica's struggles
to maintain the double incorporation during the recent period of neoliberal globalization. It concludes with eight lessons.

Universal social policies have the power to reduce inequality and create more cohesive societies. How can countries in the South deliver universalism? This book answers this question through a comparative analysis of Costa Rica, Mauritius, South Korea, and Uruguay, and a detailed historical account of Costa Rica's successful trajectory. Against the backdrop of democracy and progressive parties, the authors place at center stage the policy architectures defined as the combination of instruments that dictate the benefits available to people. The volume also explores the role of state actors in building pro-universal architectures. This book will interest advanced students and scholars of human development and public and social policies, as well as policymakers eager to promote universal policies across the South.

Few countries have achieved social development, which requires simultaneously securing market and social incorporation (good jobs and access to social services). This book reviews Costa Rica's experience as one of the few successful cases of double incorporation in the periphery.

The early 2000s were a period of social policy expansion in Latin America. New programs were created in healthcare, pensions, and social assistance, and previously excluded groups were incorporated into existing policies. What was the character of this social policy expansion? Why did the region experience this transformation? Drawing on a large body of research, this Element shows that the social policy gains in the early 2000s remained segmented, exhibiting differences in access and benefit levels, gaps in service quality, and unevenness across policy sectors. It argues that this segmented expansion resulted from a combination of short and long-term characteristics of democracy, favorable economic conditions, and policy legacies. The analysis reveals that scholars of Latin American social policy have generated important new concepts and theories that advance our understanding of perennial questions of welfare state development and change.

Universal social policies have the power to reduce inequality and create more cohesive societies. How can countries in the South deliver universalism? This book answers this question through a comparative analysis of Costa Rica, Mauritius, South Korea, and Uruguay, and a detailed historical account of Costa Rica's successful trajectory. Against the backdrop of democracy and progressive parties, the authors place at center stage the policy architectures defined as the combination of instruments that dictate the benefits available to people. The volume also explores the role of state actors in building pro-universal architectures. This book will interest advanced students and scholars of human development and public and social policies, as well as policymakers eager to promote universal policies across the South.