Political Determinants of Social Assistance Policies: A Critical Global Comparative Systematic Literature Review

Abstract Social assistance programs and the related literature are proliferating globally. This article conducts a critical systematic review of the literature with objective and transparent selection criteria and illustrates two major shortcomings: First, the literature is largely descriptive and impact-oriented as analytical studies on the determinants/causes of social assistance programs are relatively under-examined. Second, it identifies a gap in the literature, which emanates from the relative under-examination of political, and especially contentious political, factors in scholarly analyses of determinants/causes of social assistance programs in comparison to structuralist, institutional, and ideational approaches.