Satellite bureaucracies and sui generis managers in access to the Progresar program in Argentina

Abstract

This article examines the access dynamics of a national socio-educational program aimed at supporting the schooling and training of young people with limited economic resources: the "Programa de Respaldo a Estudiantes Argentinos" (Progresar). The objectives of the analysis were to identify relevant street-level bureaucratic agents in its implementation and to describe the access experiences of young applicants to the program. A qualitative approach was used, based on interviews with bureaucratic agents and students, triangulated with content analysis of guidelines and outreach materials. The analysis shows that the conditional mechanism of this type of policy, which requires proof of school-related criteria to access a monetary benefit, leads certain school-related agents to "orbit" around its execution, acting as managers of these policies. Simultaneously, the digital dimension of access to state benefits emerges significantly from the analysis, revealing new forms of guardianship over vulnerable populations. In a context where social policies are moving toward digitalization and depersonalization of access, it becomes particularly relevant to investigate the everyday interactions between beneficiaries and policies.