The ADAPTED supervisors Prof. Andrew Fischer , Prof. Wil Hout and Prof. Markus Kaltenborn have edited a thematic issue of the fully open access journal "Politics and Governance." The articles provide insights on the legal, political, and economic mechanisms and processes in countries of the Global South that contribute or hinder the implementation of pro‐poor policies, as well as how “pro‐poor” policies are understood and enacted in practice. In doing so, the articles address the following sub-themes: (a) different types of legal mechanisms, (b) the power, interests, and ideologies of rivalling political actors, (c) the constraints and potential solutions of institutional configurations, and (d) the evolution and diffusion of the pro‐poor agenda.
The thematic issue presents research output from the two ADAPTED work packages "Validating Pathways" and "Optimising the Impact of poverty reduction policies." All in all, the consortium members contributed the following articles:
Fischer, Andrew M., Hout, Wil, and Kaltenborn, Markus (2026), 'The Politics of Pro-Poor Policies in the Global South'
El Assal, Ahmed (2026), 'Citizens’ Claims‐Making and Navigating the Politics of Accountability in Social Cash Transfers in Uganda'
Maschhaupt, Guido (2026), 'The Interacting Politics of Agricultural Input Subsidies and Cash Transfers in Malawi and Zambia'
O'Donnell, Kate (2026), 'Contested Visions for Social Protection in Kenya: The Older Persons Cash Transfer and the Social Registry'
Among-Lutz, Irene (2026), '(Re)Framing Coherence: A Relational Analysis of Social Protection Systems in South Africa and Uganda'
Wandeto, Petronilla (2026), 'The Façade of Pluralization in Africa’s Agriculture Extension Innovation Ecosystems'
Kaltenborn, Markus and Dogu, Jasmin (2026), 'Anti‐Poverty Legislation for Particularly Vulnerable Groups: The Example of Indigenous People and Minorities'
Fischer, Andrew M. (2026), 'Mirages of External Finance in Social Protection: the Politics of Aid Viewed Through the Monetary Transfer Dilemma'