Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-956mj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-01T02:02:06.443Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Personnel Politics: Elections, Clientelistic Competition and Teacher Hiring in Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2019

Jan H Pierskalla Open the ORCID record for Jan H Pierskalla [Opens in a new window]  and
Audrey Sacks
Jan H Pierskalla*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University
Audrey Sacks
Affiliation:
Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice, World Bank
*
*Corresponding author. Email: pierskalla.4@osu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

What is the effect of increased electoral competition on patronage politics? If programmatic appeals are not credible, institutional reforms that move politics from an elite- to a mass-focused and more competitive environment increase patronage efforts. This leads to an overall surge and notable spike in discretionary state hiring in election years. The study tests this prediction in the context of Indonesia’s decentralized education sector. The authors exploit the exogenous phasing in and timing of elections in Indonesian districts for causal identification. They find evidence of election-related increases in the number of contract teachers on local payrolls and increases in civil service teacher certifications, which dramatically increases salaries. These effects are particularly pronounced for districts in which the former authoritarian ruling party is in competition with new entrants.

Keywords

clientelismpatronagecivil serviceelections
Type
Articles
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 1283 - 1305
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ACDP Indonesia (2015) Teachers politicized toward local elections, 6 October.Google Scholar
Antlöv, HandCederroth, S (eds) (2004) Elections in Indonesia. The New Order and Beyond. Abingdon: RoutledgeCurzon.Google Scholar
Aspinall, E (2005) Opposing Suharto. Compromise, Resistance, and Regime Change in Indonesia. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Aspinall, E (2014) When brokers betray: clientelism, social networks, and electoral politics in Indonesia. Critical Asian Studies 46 (4):545–570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, EandSukmajati, M (eds) (2016) Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.Google Scholar
Asunka, J et al. (2017) Electoral fraud or violence: the effect of observers on party manipulation strategies. British Journal of Political Science forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berliner, DandErlich, A (2015) Competing for transparency: political competition and institutional reform in Mexican states. American Political Science Review 109 (1):110–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besley, T (2006) Principled Agents? The Political Economy of Good Government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beteille, T (2009) Absenteeism, Transfers and Patronage: The Political Economy of Teacher Labor Markets in India. PhD Dissertation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University.Google Scholar
Brollo, FandTroiano, U (2016) What happens when a woman wins an election? Evidence from close races in Brazil. Journal of Development Economics 122 (September):28–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buehler, M (2009) The rising importance of personal networks in Indonesian local politics: an analysis of district government head elections in South Sulawesi in 2005. In Erb M and Sulistiyanto P (eds), Deepening Democracy in Indonesia? Direct Elections for Local Leaders (Pilkada). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 101–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buehler, MandTan, P (2007) Party–candidate relationships in Indonesian local politics: a case study of the 2005 regional elections in Gowa, South Sulawesi Province. Indonesia 84, 41–69.Google Scholar
Burgess, R et al. (2012) The political economy of deforestation in the tropics. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 127 (4):1707–1754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, EandMurillo, MV (2004) Who delivers? Partisan clients in the Argentine electoral market. American Journal of Political Science 48 (4):742–757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cammett, MandIssar, S (2010) Bricks and mortar clientelism: sectarianism and the logics of welfare allocation in Lebanon. World Politics 62 (3):381–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cerdan-Infantes, P et al. (2013) Spending More or Spending Better: Improving Education Financing in Indonesia. Technical Report 76404. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Chang, MC et al. (2013) Teacher Reform in Indonesia: The Role of Politics and Evidence in Policy Making. Technical Report 83152. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Chattharakul, A (2011) Thai electoral campaigning: vote-canvassing networks and hybrid voting. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 29 (4):67–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, D (2011) School-Based Management, School Decision-Making and Education Outcomes in Indonesian Primary Schools. Policy Research Working Paper. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Corstange, D (2018) Clientelism in competitive and uncompetitive elections. Comparative Political Studies 51 (1):76–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruz, CandKeefer, P (2015) Political parties, clientelism, and bureaucratic reform. Comparative Political Studies 48 (14):1942–1973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Ree, J et al. (2016) Double for nothing? Experimental evidence on the impact of an unconditional teacher salary increase on student performance in Indonesia. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 133 (2):993–1039.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driscoll, B (2018) Why political competition can increase patronage. Studies in Comparative International Development 53 (4):404–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duflo, E, Dupas, PandKremer, M (2015) School governance, teacher incentives, and pupil–teacher ratios: experimental evidence from Kenyan primary schools. Journal of Public Economics 123 (March):92–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erb, MandSulistiyanto, P (eds) (2009) Deepening Democracy in Indonesia? Direct Elections for Local Leaders (Pilkada). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folke, O, Hirano, SandSnyder, JM Jr (2011) Patronage and elections in U.S. States. American Political Science Review 105 (3):567–585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franzese, R (2002) Electoral and partisan cycles in economic policies and outcomes. Annual Review of Political Science 5:369–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gans-Morse, J, Mazzuca, SandNichter, S (2014) Varieties of clientelism: machine politics during elections. American Journal of Political Science 58 (2):415–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geddes, B (1994) Politician’s Dilemma. Building State Capacity in Latin America. Berkley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gift, TandWibbels, E (2014) Reading, writing, and the regrettable status of education research in comparative politics. Annual Review of Political Science 17:291–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gingerich, DW (2013) Political Institutions and Party-Directed Corruption in South America. Stealing for the Team. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gingerich, DW (2014) Brokered politics in Brazil: an empirical analysis. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 9 (3):269–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golden, MA (2003) Electoral connections: the effects of the personal vote on political patronage, bureaucracy and legislation in Postwar Italy. British Journal of Political Science 33 (2):189–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golden, MAandChang, ECC (2001) Competitive corruption: factional conflict and political malfeasance in postwar Italian Christian democracy. World Politics 53 (4):588–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, A (2006) The discreet charm of formal institutions: postcommunist party competition and state oversight. Comparative Political Studies 39 (3):271–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, A (2007) Rebuilding Leviathan. Party Competition and State Exploitation in Post-Communist Democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, A (2008) Beyond clientelism incumbent state capture and state formation. Comparative Political Studies 41 (4–5):638–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanusch, MandKeefer, P (2013) Promises, Promises: Vote-Buying and the Electoral Mobilization Strategies of Non-Credible Politicians. Policy Research Working Paper. Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harding, RandStasavage, D (2014) What democracy does (and doesn’t do) for basic services: school fees, school inputs, and African elections. The Journal of Politics 76 (1):229–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicken, A (2011) Clientelism. Annual Review of Political Science 14:289–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, ACandPalmer-Rubin, B (2015) Beyond the machine: clientelist brokers and interest organizations in Latin America. Comparative Political Studies, 48 (9):1186–1223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horn, MJ (1995) The Political Economy of Public Administration: Institutional Choice in the Public Sector. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karensa, E (2016) Thousands rally in Jakarta for permanent employee status. The Jakarta Globe, 10 February.Google Scholar
Keefer, P (2007) Clientelism, credibility, and the policy choices of young democracies. American Journal of Political Science 51 (4):804–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keefer, PandVlaicu, R (2007) Democracy, credibility, and clientelism. Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 24 (2):371–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khemani, S (2015) Buying votes versus supplying public services: political incentives to under-invest in pro-poor policies. Journal of Development Economics 117 (November):84–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, DY (2003) Half-Hearted Reform: Electoral Institutions and the Struggle for Democracy in Indonesia. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, HandKselman, DM (2013) Economic development, democratic experience, and political parties’ linkage strategies. Comparative Political Studies 46 (11):1453–1484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, HandWilkinson, SI (2007) Citizen–politician linkages: an introduction. In Kitschelt H, and Wilkinson SI (eds), Patrons, Clients, and Policies. Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:1–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kopecký, P (2011) Political competition and party patronage: public appointments in Ghana and South Africa. Political Studies 59 (3):713–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramon, E (2016) Electoral handouts as information. World Politics 68 (3):454–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kristiansen, SandRamli, M (2006) Buying an income: the market for civil service positions in Indonesia. Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs 28 (2):207–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labonne, J (2014) Local political business cycles: evidence from Philippine municipalities. Journal of Development Economics 121:56–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larreguy, H, Montiel Olea, CEandQuerubin, P (2017) Political brokers: partisans or agents? Evidence from the Mexican Teachers’ Union. American Journal of Political Science 61 (4):877–891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitsky, SR (2007) From populism to clientelism? The transformation of labor-based party linkages in Latin America. In Kitschelt H and Hicken A (eds), Patrons, Clients and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, BD (2005) Indonesian local government spending, taxing and saving: an explanation of pre- and post-decentralization fiscal outcomes. Asian Economic Journal 19:291–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mietzner, M (2011) Fund pilkada: illegal campaign financing in Indonesia’s local elections. In Aspinall E and Klinken G (eds), The State and Illegality in Indonesia. Leiden: KITLV Press, pp. 123–138.Google Scholar
Muñoz, P (2014) An informational theory of campaign clientelism: the case of Peru. Comparative Politics 47 (1):79–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muralidharan, KandSundararaman, V (2013) Contract Teachers: Experimental Evidence from India. Working Paper 19440. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichter, S (2008) Vote buying or turnout buying? Machine politics and the secret ballot. American Political Science Review 102 (1):19–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Dwyer, C (2004) Runaway state building: how political parties shape states in postcommunist Eastern Europe. World Politics 56 (4):520–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveros, V (2016) Making it personal: clientelism, favors, and the personalization of public administration in Argentina. Comparative Politics 48 (3):373–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveros, VandSchuster, C (2018) Merit, tenure, and bureaucratic behavior: evidence from a conjoint experiment in the Dominican Republic. Comparative Political Studies 51 (6):759–792.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penfold-Becerra, M. (2007) Clientelism and social funds: evidence from Chávez’s misiones. Latin American Politics and Society 49 (4):63–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierskalla, JH (2016) Splitting the difference? The politics of district creation in Indonesia. Comparative Politics 48 (2):249–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierskalla, JHandSacks, A (2018) Unpaved road ahead: the consequences of election cycles for capital expenditures. The Journal of Politics 80 (2):510–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierskalla, JanandSacks, Audrey (2019) Replication Data for: Personnel Politics: Elections, Clientelistic Competition, and Teacher Hiring in Indonesia, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/0BFF0K, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:NzkMlWpYWtkI3XJCJD5xDQ== [fileUNF]Google Scholar
Pisani, E (2013) A nation of dunces? Inside Indonesia, 7 December.Google Scholar
Remmer, KL (2007) The political economy of patronage: expenditure patterns in the Argentine provinces, 1983–2003. Journal of Politics 69 (2):363–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, JAandVerdier, T (2013) The political economy of clientelism. Scandinavian Journal of Economics 115 (2):260–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robison, RandHadiz, V (2004) Reorganising Power in Indonesia. The Politics of Oligarchy in an Age of Markets. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ross, M (2006) Is democracy good for the poor? American Journal of Political Science 50 (4):860–874.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosser, AandFahmi, M (2016) The Political Economy of Teacher Management in Decentralized Indonesia. Policy Research Working Paper No. 7913. Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosser, AandSulistiyanto, P (2013) The politics of universal free basic education in decentralized Indonesia: insights from Yogyakarta. Pacific Affairs 86 (3):539–560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosser, A, Joshi, AandEdwin, D (2011) Power, Politics, and Political Entrepreneurs: Realising Universal Free Basic Education in Indonesia. Working Paper No. 358. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruhil, AVSandCamões, PJ (2003) What lies beneath: the political roots of state merit systems. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 13 (1):27–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samii, C (2016) Causal empiricism in quantitative research. The Journal of Politics 78 (3):941–955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaffer, JandBaker, A (2015) Clientelism as persuasion-buying evidence from Latin America. Comparative Political Studies 48 (9):1093–1126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schuster, C (forthcoming) Patrons against clients: electoral uncertainty and bureaucratic tenure in politicized states. Regulation & Governance.Google Scholar
Shefter, M (1977) Party and patronage: Germany, England, and Italy. Politics & Society 7 (3):403–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skoufias, E et al. (2014) Electoral Accountability and Local Government Spending in Indonesia. Policy Research Working Paper 5614. Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stasavage, D (2005) Democracy and education spending in Africa. American Journal of Political Science 49 (2):343–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stokes, SC (2005) Perverse accountability: a formal model of machine politics with evidence from Argentina. American Political Science Review 99 (3):315–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stokes, SC et al. (2013) Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tempo (2014) Minister Anies to set minimum wage for teachers, 26 November.Google Scholar
Ting, MM et al. (2013) Elections and reform: the adoption of civil service systems in the U.S. states. Journal of Theoretical Politics 25 (3):363–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Usman, S, Akhmadi, andSuryadarma, D (2004) When Teachers are Absent: Where Do They Go and What Is the Impact on Students? Jakarta: SMERU Research Institute.Google Scholar
Vergne, C (2009) Democracy, elections and allocation of public expenditures in developing countries. European Journal of Political Economy 25 (1):63–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weitz-Shapiro, R (2012) What wins votes: why some politicians opt out of clientelism. American Journal of Political Science 56 (3):568–583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, SI (2007) Explaining changing patterns of party-voter linkages in India. In Kitschelt H and Wilkinson SI (eds), Patrons, Clients, and Policies. Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
The World Bank (2010) From Pre-Service Training to Retirement: Producing and Maintaining a High-Quality, Efficient, and Motivated Workforce. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Pierskalla and Sacks Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/0BFF0K
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Pierskalla and Sacks supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Pierskalla and Sacks supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 238.7 KB