The State and the Imperative for Social Policy Reform in Africa

Daniel Béland, Rosina K. Foli, Privilege Haang’andu

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English

Palgrave Macmillan
26 December 2025

Social welfare & social services; Politics & government; Regional government

Series: Global Dynamics of Social Policy

This concise and interdisciplinary open access volume explores the imperative of social policy reform in Sub-Saharan Africa and the potential nature of such a reform. Its chapters study social policy changes that have been made before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and those that need to be made towards better protecting individuals, families, and communities against exposure to insecurity, poverty, and other vulnerabilities throughout their lifecycle. As argued, for this to happen, the state needs to play a pivotal role in building harmonised and coordinated social policy systems. The chapters also stress the need for a holistic social policy reform that spans key areas including health, education, disability, gender, and migration policies. Besides this, the volume considers the role of automatic stabilisers and novel issues such as the impact of social media. Finally, the volume draws our attention to the respective roles of state actors, national non-state actors, and transnational actors.

Edited by: Daniel Béland, Rosina K. Foli, Privilege Haang’andu
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Country of Publication: Switzerland
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 148mm,
ISBN: 9783032024312
ISBN 10: 3032024315
Series: Global Dynamics of Social Policy
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 26 December 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Daniel Béland is Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and James McGill Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). A student of comparative fiscal and social policy, he has published more than 20 books and 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Rosina K. Foli is a Senior lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana. Her research interests include social policy, governance and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa and transnational policy processes. Recent publications include The Making of Anti-Poverty Policies in Ghana: Transnational Actors, Processes and Mechanisms (Palgrave). Privilege (Priva) Hang’andu is a Senior Policy Advisor at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, an agency of the Government of Canada. He also teaches at the Canada School of Public Service. His main research interest is the role of transnational policy actors in driving policy change in African institutions.