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The Impact of Neopatrimonialism on Poverty in Contemporary Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2020

Agustina Giraudy Open the ORCID record for Agustina Giraudy [Opens in a new window] ,
Jonathan Hartlyn Open the ORCID record for Jonathan Hartlyn [Opens in a new window] ,
Claire Dunn Open the ORCID record for Claire Dunn [Opens in a new window]  and
Emily Carty Open the ORCID record for Emily Carty [Opens in a new window]
Agustina Giraudy*
Affiliation:
Agustina Giraudy is an associate professor in the School of International Service, American University.
Jonathan Hartlyn*
Affiliation:
Jonathan Hartlyn is the Kenneth J. Reckford Professor of Political Science at theUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Claire Dunn*
Affiliation:
Claire Dunn is a Ph.D. candidate in political science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Emily Carty*
Affiliation:
Emily Carty is a profesora asociada in the Global and International Studies Graduate School, University of Salamanca.
*
giraudy@american.edu.
hartlyn@unc.edu.
cedunn13@live.unc.edu.
emily.carty@usal.es.
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Abstract

Neopatrimonial exercise of power, combining ruler appropriation of resources with ruler discretionality in the use of state power, remains present to varying degrees in contemporary Latin America. Building on an extensive literature, this article provides a delimited conceptualization and measurement of neopatrimonialism for 18 countries in the region and examines the effects of neopatrimonial legacies on poverty with cross-national quantitative analysis. The study finds that higher levels of neopatrimonialism have a significant, substantive impact on poverty levels, controlling for other relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and political factors. It confirms the importance of a cumulative record of democracy for poverty alleviation, while the analysis indicates that neopatrimonialism limits the effects of the political left in power on poverty reduction.

Keywords

NeopatrimonialismpovertyLatin Americademocracy
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 62 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 73 - 96
Copyright
© 2020 University of Miami 

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