Clientelism is characterized by the combination of particularistic targeting and contingency-
based exchange. This method of contingent exchange thrives in both autocracies and …

Vote-buying is a contentious issue in contemporary discourse on the sustainability of
democratic development in Nigeria. This menace is gradually crippling electoral processes …

Dictatorship is not what it was once. Military and single-party regimes have been withering
away. Today, most dictators organize multiparty elections. The Politics of Uncertainty …

Poverty relief programs are shaped by politics. The particular design which social programs
take is to a large extent determined by the existing institutional constraints and politicians' …

Across the world, many politicians deliver benefits to citizens in direct exchange for their
votes. Scholars often predict the demise of this phenomenon, as it is threatened by …

Scholars typically understand vote buying as offering particularistic benefits in exchange for
vote choices. This depiction of vote buying presents a puzzle: with the secret ballot, what …

Why do strong opposition party organizations emerge in some democratizing countries,
while those in others remain weak or quickly fragment on ethnic lines? From Protest to …

This article studies political clientelism. In the first section, the term clientelism can be
defined as giving material goods in return for electoral support, where the criterion of …

Although many studies of clientelism focus exclusively on vote buying, political machines
often employ diverse portfolios of strategies. We provide a theoretical framework and formal …

In many young democracies, local politics remain a bastion of nondemocratic practices, from
corruption to clientelism to abuse of power. In a context where these practices are …