“You Can't Always Get What You Want”: Middle-Class Expectations and Incomplete Social Contracts in the Global South

Eric Rougier, Matthieu Clément, François Combarnous and Dominique Darbon
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Eric Rougier: BSE - Bordeaux sciences économiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Matthieu Clément: BSE - Bordeaux sciences économiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
François Combarnous: BSE - Bordeaux sciences économiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Dominique Darbon: LAM - Les Afriques dans le monde - IEP Bordeaux - Sciences Po Bordeaux - Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Bordeaux - UBM - Université Bordeaux Montaigne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Over the past decade, much of the global middle class has become more vulnerable and disillusioned. Drawing on original qualitative surveys in Brazil, C & ocirc;te d'Ivoire, Turkey, and Vietnam, this paper reveals a persistent disconnect between middle-class expectations and government policy in the core domains of the social contract: public services, social protection, and participation. On the demand side, middle-class respondents report frustration with poor service provision-particularly in education, health, and security-and with tax systems, they perceive as burdensome yet unreciprocated. On the supply side, policymakers emphasize market access and credit expansion while retreating from broad-based public support, a pattern we term "laissez-faire paternalism." Despite their dissatisfaction, middle-class citizens often remain politically disengaged due to fragmentation and institutional barriers, producing a form of "truncated citizenship" in which they enjoy consumption rights but lack political influence. These findings challenge the assumption that middle-class growth naturally drives reform. Instead, we find a fragmented and politically instrumentalized group with limited capacity to press for change. By contrasting demand- and supply-side perceptions, the paper uncovers institutional blind spots and warns of rising frustration and instability if governance does not become more inclusive and responsive.

Keywords: Brazil; Côte D'ivoire; Expectations; Middle class; Policy gap; Policy reforms; Political economy; Private and public sectors; Turkey; Vietnam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-06-21
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05143928v1
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Published in Kyklos, 2025, pp.1-16. ⟨10.1111/kykl.70000⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05143928

DOI: 10.1111/kykl.70000

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