7 - Citizen Strategies in Comparative Context

Summary

Chapter 7 argues that citizens play an important role in clientelism far beyond Brazil.In many countries, clientelism confronts serious threats, such as rising income, institutional reforms, heightened legal enforcement and partisan strategies. Yet clientelism endures, in part because many citizens are motivated to help sustain ongoing exchange relationships that mitigate their vulnerability. Evidence from Argentina and Mexico documents various challenges threatening clientelism, as well as substantial vulnerability facing many citizens. In both countries, a strong link is observed between clientelism and this book’s two key mechanisms:citizens who declare support publicly for candidates — and those who ask politicians and their representatives for benefits — are more likely to experience clientelism.Similar findings are observed for one or both mechanisms in Ghana, India, Lebanon, and Yemen, and cross-national data from Africa and Latin America reveal a robust association between requesting benefits and clientelism.Such evidence corroborates more thorough testing of mechanisms in Brazil, and suggests how citizens often help to sustain relational clientelism.