Title: "Politics of Social Assistance Provision: Contentious Politics and Child Support Grant Provision in South Africa"
Thesis Defense Date: : May 29, 2019
Thesis No: : 570863
Thesis Co-Advisors: : Prof. Belgin San Akca, Prof. Erdem Yoruk
Thesis Committee Members: : Prof. Ziya Onis, Prof. Burak Gurel, Prof. Murat Koyuncu
In my master’s thesis, I examined how social assistance provision is shaped by contentious and electoral politics. Employing a multi-method approach, I utilized both quantitative and qualitative analysis. In the quantitative portion, I investigated the impact of number of protests on social assistance coverage by using instrumental variable estimation with administrative-level panel data. In the qualitative portion, I leverage the insights gained from a comprehensive content analysis of legislative documents and secondary sources to substantiate my econometric analyses and interviews. In the final chapter of my thesis, I conducted a comparative analysis of Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey to place South Africa within a broader context with a higher external validity.