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1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2018

Simeon Nichter
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Summary

Chapter 1 introduces how and why citizens often play a crucial role in the survival of clientelism.The persistence of clientelism across the world presents an intriguing puzzle, given the wide range of challenges that ostensibly threaten its existence.The chapter summarizes the book’s argument that vulnerability often spurs citizens to undertake actions that help sustain “relational clientelism” – ongoing exchange relationships with politicians who render assistance when adversity strikes.It introduces two key mechanisms – declared support and requesting benefits – by which citizens fortify these long-term clientelist relationships. The chapter distinguishes relational clientelism from electoral clientelism and other forms of distributive politics, and examines why the phenomenon is especially prone to opportunistic defection.It provides an overview of each chapter, and discusses scope conditions and broader implications.The chapter explains why Brazil presents a fortuitous context to test the argument; corroborative evidence is also provided from Argentina and Mexico, as well as from Ghana, India, Lebanon, Yemen, and cross-national surveys in Africa and Latin America.

Type
Chapter
Information
Votes for Survival
Relational Clientelism in Latin America
, pp. 1 - 24
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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  • Introduction
  • Simeon Nichter, University of California, San Diego
  • Book: Votes for Survival
  • Online publication: 06 December 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316998014.001
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  • Introduction
  • Simeon Nichter, University of California, San Diego
  • Book: Votes for Survival
  • Online publication: 06 December 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316998014.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Simeon Nichter, University of California, San Diego
  • Book: Votes for Survival
  • Online publication: 06 December 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316998014.001
Available formats
×