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Working Paper
Management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala through the lens of state capacity and clientelismDuring the first wave of COVID-19 infections, Kerala, a state in southern India, successfully managed to contain the pandemic. As a result, the Kerala model of managing the COVID-19 pandemic was celebrated as a success across the globe...
COVID-19 Pandemic State capacityJournal Article
Clientelism and governanceTHIS ARTICLE IS PART OF A FORTHCOMING JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE OF WORLD DEVELOPMENT | Unlike much of the growing literature on political clientelism, this short article contains mainly the author’s general reflections on the broad issues of govern...
vote-buying Clientelism PoliticsJournal Article
Formalizing clientelism in Kenya: From Harambee to the Constituency Development FundTHIS ARTICLE IS PART OF A FORTHCOMING JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE OF WORLD DEVELOPMENT | Why does clientelism persist? What determines how politicians signal responsiveness to voters and exert effort towards fulfilling campaign promises?...
Politics Kenya ClientelismWorking Paper
Residual capacity and the political economy of pandemic response in GhanaOn the whole, poor countries in Africa and elsewhere seem to have weathered the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19) pandemic better than wealthier countries with superior healthcare systems...
COVID-19 State capacity ClientelismWorking Paper
How clientelism undermines state capacity: Evidence from Mexican municipalitiesDoes clientelism perpetuate the weak state capacity that characterizes many young democracies? Prior work explains that clientelist parties skew public spending to private goods and under-supply public goods...
Clientelism State capacity Bureaucratic capacityWorking Paper
Contract clientelism: How infrastructure contracts fund vote-buyingWhere does the money come from to buy votes? We argue that an important source of funds for vote-buying comes from ‘contract clientelism’, or the provision of public contracts to private firms in exchange for campaign donations...
Contracts vote-buying ClientelismWorking Paper
Technology and clientelist politics in IndiaThis paper argues that new computer, smartphone, and universal ID technologies are reducing the incentives for political clientelism in the delivery of social programmes in India, especially by allowing party leaders to bypass local brokers to credit...
Clientelism India TechnologyWorking Paper
Formalizing clientelism in Kenya: From Harambee to the Constituency Development FundWhy does clientelism persist? What determines how politicians signal responsiveness or fulfil their campaign promises?...
Politics Kenya ClientelismWorking Paper
Poverty, social networks, and clientelismWhy are the poor susceptible to clientelism, and what factors shield them from the influence of vote buying? We explore the role of both formal and informal social networks in shaping the likelihood of being targeted with private inducements...
Social networks Poor vote-buyingWorking Paper
Voter coercion and pro-poor redistribution in rural MexicoVoter coercion is a recurrent threat to pro-poor redistribution in young democracies. In this study we focus on Mexico’s paradigmatic Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera (POP) programme...
Voting Clientelism Conditional cash transfersWorking Paper
Social ties, clientelism, and the poor’s expectations of future service provision: Receiving more, expecting less?Are candidates who hand out clientelistic goods at election time less likely to provide services once they take office?...
vote-buying Clientelism Social cohesionWorking Paper
Clientelistic politics and pro-poor targeting: Rules versus discretionary budgetsPast research has provided evidence of clientelistic politics in delivery of programme benefits by local governments, or gram panchayats (GPs), and manipulation of GP programme budgets by legislators and elected officials at upper tiers in West Benga...
Clientelism Governance TargetingWorking Paper
Clientelism and governanceUnlike much of the growing literature on political clientelism, this short paper contains mainly the author’s general reflections on the broad issues of governance (or mis-governance including corruption), democracy, and state capacity that cli...
vote-buying Clientelism PoliticsWorking Paper
Clientelism, public goods provision, and governanceIt is widely believed that clientelism—the giving of material goods in return for electoral support—is associated with poorer development outcomes...
Clientelism Development Benefit programmesWorking Paper
Clientelism and development: is there a poverty trap?There are sound theoretical reasons to expect clientelism to suppress economic growth: politicians who garner support by offering employment to voters and grassroots party members can do so more effectively when the voters’ participation constr...
Clientelism political competition Public policyBlog
Clientelism – another reason to worry about US democracy
The last several months have given us many reasons to worry about US democracy – not least the riot at the US Capitol and the president’s refusal to accept the results of the November election, with Republican support. Rachel Gisselquist ...
Clientelism United States Corruption