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State Structures and Clientelism: The French State Versus the ‘Notaires’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2009

Ezra N. Suleiman
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Extract

The autonomy of a state is thought to depend on the state's structures. This widely accepted view of the policy-making process has given rise to an uncontested assertion: states that possess centralized administrative structures are better able than decentralized states to formulate and implement policies independently of societal pressures.

Is a decentralized state more permeable than a centralized one? We seek to answer this question by treating it as a hypothesis. The empirical material derives from a case study of a reform project proposed by the French state and objected to by the group in question, the notaires.

Type
Articles
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , July 1987 , pp. 257 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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References

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