The world is going through a period of change. Volatile economic growth, climate change, the technological revolution, migration and the demographic transition all reflect this, as do the impacts these changes are having on society and the challenges they pose for public policies. Continuing the social progress made in Latin America and the Caribbean, ensuring no ground is lost and attaining the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development while ensuring that no one is left behind will require new and greater public policy efforts to enhance coverage and quality. An essential part of this is to have institutions capable of meeting current and future challenges, securing viable and sustainable achievements and guaranteeing the universal exercise of rights. This book reviews elements of the institutional framework for social policies in the region, particularly those focused on social protection. It thus discusses the leading concepts and the progress made at the regional and national level within a framework of four complementary analytical dimensions: the legal and regulatory dimension, the organizational dimension, the technical and operational dimension and the financing dimension