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Working Paper
Who trusts?In the developing world, clientelism is common. In Africa, public office is often used to redistribute resources to ethnically defined constituencies, and this form of clientelistic exchange is a key determinant of vote choice. Does clientelistic...
Blog
Breaking the cycle of clientelism: How access to formal networks can empower the poorIn democracies around the world, election season is often associated with the power of political machines and their attempts to sway voters in their...
Blog
Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shape support for vote-buying candidatesAcross Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia, political candidates often attempt to buy the votes of the most socio-economically deprived communities. But new...
Blog
Clientelism and targeting of welfare benefits: Can a centralized formula-based system do better?Local governments in India—known as panchayats —are sometimes criticised for failing to deliver benefits earmarked for vulnerable regions or...
Journal Article
Formalizing clientelism in KenyaTHIS 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? This article...
Journal Article
Clientelism and governancePart of Journal Special Issue Clientelist Politics and Development
Journal Article
Clientelism, corruption and the rule of lawPart of Journal Special Issue Clientelist Politics and Development
Journal Article
Receiving more, expecting less?Part of Journal Special Issue Clientelist Politics and Development
Journal Article
Clientelistic politics and pro-poor targetingPart of Journal Special Issue Clientelist Politics and Development
Journal Article
Poverty, social networks, and clientelismPart of Journal Special Issue Clientelist Politics and Development
Working 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 constraint...
Working Paper
Clientelistic politics and pro-poor targetingPast 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...
Working 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. However, systematic cross-country evidence on the deleterious effects of clientelism on development...
Working 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...
Blog
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...
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. However, at...
Displaying 16 of 30 results