Public policies under uncertainty: contingency and indetermination in five Paraguayan towns in the context of the health emergency

Abstract

The article presents, from a public policy perspective, a review of the measures implemented by the Paraguayan State and decentralized instances since the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology involved the systematization of secondary sources of statistical information and the application of semi-structured interviews in the study locations. An analysis of the performance of the public power in terms of social policies during the pandemic is proposed, to examine the evolution of financial efforts around ​​social interventions, both during the period prior to the health crisis and during the year of development of the pandemic (years 2018, 2019 and 2020). In addition, social investment is observed in four departments: Boquerón, Caazapá, San Pedro and Central. These concern respectively the districts of Mariscal Estigarribia, San Juan Nepomuceno, Santa Rosa del Aguaray and Villeta. Finally, the situation of the country's capital, Asunción, is analyzed. These five localities constituted the case studies of the investigation. The crisis caused by the pandemic shows that social investment in strategic sectors such as health, education and social protection represents a fundamental axis for the strengthening of social protection systems that guarantee the maintenance of food security processes, subsidies and unemployment insurance to control the negative effects of confinement and job losses.