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 poor
by
Nico Ravanilla, Allen Hicken
May 2023
In 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 candidates
by
Prisca Jöst, Ellen Lust
May 2023
Across Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia, political candidates often attempt to buy the votes of the most socio-economically deprived communities. But new...
Blog
Does political clientelism lead to higher corruption and a weaker rule of law?
by
Staffan I. Lindberg, Maria C. Lo Bue,
Kunal Sen
May 2023
Political clientelism is the strategic, discretionary, and targeted exchange of goods and services between politicians and voters for political...
Blog
Clientelism and targeting of welfare benefits: Can a centralized formula-based system do better?
by
Dilip Mookherjee, Anusha Nath
May 2023
Local governments in India—known as panchayats—are sometimes criticised for failing to deliver benefits earmarked for vulnerable regions or households...
Journal Article
Formalizing clientelism in Kenya
THIS 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...
Working Paper
Residual capacity and the political economy of pandemic response in Ghana
On 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. Using the Ghanaian case, this paper draws on newspaper...
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 targeting
Past 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 governance
It 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 governance
Unlike 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...