How instrument constituencies shape policy transfer: a case study from Ghana

Abstract The concept of instrument constituency provides students of public policy with a new analytical tool for the analysis of policy change. In this article, we use the example of cash transfer programs to show how this concept also makes a direct contribution to the analysis of transnational policy transfer. More specifically, the analysis shows how, over the last dozen years, actors forming an instrument constituency promoted the diffusion of cash transfers as a policy instrument from Latin America to sub-Saharan Africa and, more specifically, from Brazil to Ghana. This case study of Ghana’s adoption of a cash transfer program is grounded in semi-structured, expert interviews conducted with both domestic and transnational actors. Overall, the analysis demonstrates how the concept of instrument constituencies can enrich the literature on policy transfer, a key source of policy change in both developed and developing countries.