The article contributes to understanding the political economy of implementation of social protection programmes at local level. Current debates are dominated by technocratic arguments, emphasizing the lack of financial resources, technology or skills as major barriers for effective implementation. Describing how chiefs, assistant-chiefs and community elders are routinely at the centre stage of core implementation processes, including targeting, enrolment, delivery, monitoring, awareness and information, data collection or grievance and redress, this study on Kenya argues for the need to look more closely into the local political economy as an important mediating arena for implementing social policies. Implementation is heavily contingent upon the local social, political and institutional context that influences and shapes its outcomes. These processes are ambivalent involving multiple forms of interactions between ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ institutional structures, which may support initial policy objectives or induce policy outcomes substantially diverging from intended policy objectives.

本文有助于理解在地方一级实施社会保护计划的政治经济学。当前的辩论以技术官僚论据为主导，强调缺乏财政资源，技术或技能是有效实施的主要障碍。肯尼亚的这项研究描述了酋长，首席酋长和社区长者如何在核心实施过程（包括目标确定，入学，交付，监测，意识和信息，数据收集或申诉和补救）的常规阶段处于常规地位，更仔细地将当地政治经济视为实施社会政策的重要中介场所。实施在很大程度上取决于影响和影响其结果的当地社会，政治和体制环境。