The demand side of clientelism: The role of client’s perceptions and values

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dc.creatorPellicer, Miquel
dc.creatorWegner, Eva
dc.creatorBenstead, Lindsay
dc.creatorKincaid, Harold
dc.creatorLust, Ellen
dc.creatorVasquez, Juanita
dc.date2014-11-27T12:29:01Z
dc.date2014-11-27T12:29:01Z
dc.date2014-11
dc.date.accessioned2015-05-28T10:06:47Z
dc.date.available2015-05-28T10:06:47Z
dc.date.issued2015-05-28
dc.descriptionPolitical science literature on clientelism has tended to focus primarily on the role of parties and brokers, leaving the demand side of clientelism - the choices of potential clients - relatively unexplored. This paper proposes a formal framework shedding light on the demand side of clientelism. We conceptualize clientelistic choice as one between engaging in clientelism, on the one hand, and supporting a redistributive platform, on the other. This approach allows us to draw insights from the social psychology literature on mobilization and the economics literature on redistribution preferences. Our framework nests the standard model of clientelistic choice, with factors such as poverty and ideological stance, but also includes other factors such as perceptions of political efficacy and values regarding the legitimacy of existing inequalities. We start with a simple static model that allows us to study the role of these factors in a simple, unified way. Our framework is well suited to address issues relatively unexplored in the literature, including the role of clients in the persistence of clientelism and the reasons clientelism persists or is eliminated. Most importantly, we address how clientelism gets transformed from a “traditional” type of clientelism, embedded in legitimized social relations, to a “modern” type, such as vote buying. To address these issues, we study a dynamic extension of the model where efficacy and legitimacy perceptions are endogenized and the degree of informational connectivity in the community is incorporated. In our model, efficacy and legitimation perceptions reinforce each other because efficacy perceptions lead people to expect high and sustained inequality which is then legitimized in order to protect self-esteem. This generates multiple steady states, one of which resembles a “traditional” form of clientelism that features widespread clientelism and disempowered clients that legitimize social inequalities. Informational connectivity breaks this reinforcement mechanism and thus leads to a unique steady state where clientelism and programmatic redistribution co-exist, and that resembles a “modern” type of clientelism.
dc.identifierPellicer, M., Wegner, E., Benstead, L., Kincaid, H., Lust, E., Vasquez, J., (2014). The demand side of clientelism: The role of client’s perceptions and values. A Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit Working Paper Number 140. Cape Town: SALDRU, University of Cape Town
dc.identifier978-1-928281-01-6
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/772
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper DA - 2015-05-28 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Clientelism KW - Demand side KW - Mobilisation LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - The demand side of clientelism: The role of client’s perceptions and values TI - The demand side of clientelism: The role of client’s perceptions and values UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11090/772 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/772
dc.languageen
dc.publisher.departmentSALDRUen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.relationSaldru Working Paper;140
dc.subjectClientelism
dc.subjectDemand side
dc.subjectMobilisation
dc.titleThe demand side of clientelism: The role of client’s perceptions and values
dc.typeWorking Paper
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceWorking Paperen_ZA
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