Votes for Survival

Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-1-108-42836-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 324 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 681 g

Reihe: Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics

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 economic development, ballot secrecy and other daunting challenges. To explain its resilience, this book shifts attention to the demand side of exchanges. Nichter contends that citizens play a crucial but underappreciated role in the survival of relational clientelism - ongoing exchange relationships that extend beyond election campaigns. Citizens often undertake key actions, including declared support and requesting benefits, to sustain these relationships. As most of the world's population remains vulnerable to adverse shocks, citizens often depend on such relationships when the state fails to provide an adequate social safety net. Nichter demonstrates the critical role of citizens with fieldwork and original surveys in Brazil, as well as with comparative evidence from Argentina, Mexico and other continents.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nichter, Simeon

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction; Part I. Electoral Clientelism: 2. Challenges for electoral clientelism; Part II. Relational Clientelism: 3. Citizens and relational clientelism; 4. Income and vulnerability; 5. Declared support; 6. Requesting benefits; Part III. Extensions: 7. Citizen strategies in comparative context; 8. Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Nichter, Simeon
Simeon Nichter is Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego. He has published articles in the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, Review of Economics and Statistics, and World Development. Previously, he served as Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Global Development. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.P.A. in International Development from Harvard Kennedy School.