Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics

343 Pages·2013·5.13 MB·English

by  Susan C. Stokes

Brokers,Voters,andClientelism
Brokers,Voters,andClientelismaddressesmajorquestionsindistributivepolitics.Why
isitacceptableforpartiestotrytowinelectionsbypromisingtomakecertaingroups
ofpeoplebetteroff,butunacceptable–andillegal–topaypeoplefortheirvotes?Why
dopartiesoftenlavishbenefitsonloyalvoters,whosesupporttheycancountonany-
way,ratherthanonresponsiveswingvoters?Whyarevotebuyingandmachinepolitics
commonintoday’sdevelopingdemocraciesbutathingofthepastinmostoftoday’s
advanceddemocracies?Thisbookdevelopsatheoryofbroker-mediateddistributionto
answerthesequestions,testingthetheorywithresearchfromfourdevelopingdemoc-
racies, and reviews a rich secondary literature on countries in all world regions. The
authorsdeploynormativetheorytoevaluatewhetherclientelism,pork-barrelpolitics,
andothernonprogrammaticdistributivestrategiescanbejustifiedonthegroundsthat
theypromoteefficiency,redistribution,orvoterparticipation.
Susan C. Stokes is John S. Saden Professor of Political Science at Yale University and
DirectoroftheYaleProgramonDemocracy.SheisamemberoftheAmericanAcademy
ofArtsandSciences,apastvicepresidentoftheAmericanPoliticalScienceAssociation
(APSA),andapastpresidentofAPSA’sComparativePoliticsSection.Herbooksand
articles explore democratization and how democracy works in developing countries.
HerresearchhasbeensupportedbygrantsandfellowshipsfromtheNationalScience
Foundation,theGuggenheimMemorialFoundation,theRussellSageFoundation,the
AmericanPhilosophicalSociety,theMacArthurFoundation,andFulbrightprograms.
ThadDunningisProfessorofPoliticalScienceatYaleUniversity.Hestudiescompar-
ativepolitics,politicaleconomy,andmethodology.Hisfirstbook,CrudeDemocracy:
Natural Resource Wealth and Political Regimes (Cambridge University Press, 2008),
wontheBestBookAwardfromtheComparativeDemocratizationSectionofAPSAand
the Gaddis Smith Prize for the best first book on an international topic by a member
oftheYalefaculty.Dunninghasalsowrittenonarangeofmethodologicaltopics;his
second book, Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences: A Design-Based Approach
(CambridgeUniversityPress,2012),developsaframeworkforthediscovery,analysis,
andevaluationofstrongresearchdesigns.
MarceloNazarenoisProfessorofPoliticalScienceattheNationalUniversityofCo´rdoba
andProfessorofMethodologyandPublicPolicyattheCatholicUniversityofCo´rdoba.
HeholdsaPhDinsocialscienceaswellasadvanceddegreesinpublicadministration
andinhistory.HehasbeenavisitingresearcheratYaleUniversityandtheUniversity
ofChicago.Hispublications,injournalssuchasDesarrolloEcono´micoandtheLatin
AmericanResearchReview,touchonthethemesoftheleftinLatinAmerica,clientelism
anddistributivepolitics,andfiscalfederalism.
ValeriaBruscoholdsamaster’sdegreeininternationalrelationsandiscompletingher
doctoraldissertationattheNationalUniversityofSanMart´ıninBuenosAires.Sheis
interested in how organizational agents, whether in political parties or in nongovern-
mentalorganizations,dealwithpoverty,andshehaspublishedarticlesonthistopicas
wellasoncompetitiveclientelism.Sheteaches attheNationalUniversityofCo´rdoba
and at the Catholic University of Co´rdoba, Argentina. Brusco has also held a staff
postinthemunicipalgovernmentofthecityofCo´rdoba,isactiveinpartypoliticsin
Argentina,andhelpsleadasportsorganizationforunderprivilegedyouth.

CambridgeStudiesinComparativePolitics
GeneralEditor
MargaretLevi UniversityofWashington,Seattle
AssistantGeneralEditors
KathleenThelen MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
ErikWibbels DukeUniversity
AssociateEditors
RobertH.Bates HarvardUniversity
GaryCox StanfordUniversity
StephenHanson TheCollegeofWilliamandMary
TorbenIversen HarvardUniversity
StathisKalyvas YaleUniversity
PeterLange DukeUniversity
HelenMilner PrincetonUniversity
FrancesRosenbluth YaleUniversity
SusanStokes YaleUniversity
OtherBooksintheSeries
BenW.Ansell,FromtheBallottotheBlackboard:TheRedistributive
PoliticalEconomyofEducation
LeonardoR.Arriola,Multi-EthnicCoalitionsinAfrica:BusinessFinancingof
OppositionElectionCampaigns
DavidAusten-Smith,JeffryA.Frieden,MiriamA.Golden,KarlOveMoene,
andAdamPrzeworski,eds.,SelectedWorksofMichaelWallerstein:The
PoliticalEconomyofInequality,Unions,andSocialDemocracy
AndyBaker,TheMarketandtheMassesinLatinAmerica:PolicyReform
andConsumptioninLiberalizingEconomies
LisaBaldez,WhyWomenProtest:Women’sMovementsinChile
StefanoBartolini,ThePoliticalMobilizationoftheEuropeanLeft,
1860–1980:TheClassCleavage
RobertBates,WhenThingsFellApart:StateFailureinLate-CenturyAfrica
MarkBeissinger,NationalistMobilizationandtheCollapseoftheSovietState
NancyBermeo,ed.,UnemploymentintheNewEurope
ContinuedaftertheIndex

Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism
The Puzzle of Distributive Politics
SUSAN C. STOKES
YaleUniversity
THAD DUNNING
YaleUniversity
MARCELO NAZARENO
UniversidadNacionaldeCo´rdoba
VALERIA BRUSCO
UniversidadNacionaldeCo´rdoba
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,NY10013-2473,USA
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107660397
(cid:2)C SusanC.Stokes,ThadDunning,MarceloNazareno,andValeriaBrusco2013
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2013
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Stokes,SusanCarol.
Brokers,voters,andclientelism:thepuzzleofdistributivepolitics/SusanC.
Stokes,YaleUniversity,ThadDunning,YaleUniversity,MarceloNazareno,
NationalUniversityofCo´rdoba,Argentina,ValeriaBrusco,NationalUniversity
ofCo´rdoba,Argentina.
pagescm.–(Cambridgestudiesincomparativepolitics)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-04220-9(hardback)–ISBN978-1-107-66039-7(pbk.)
1.Politicalplanning–Economicaspects. 2.Politics,Practical–Economic
aspects. 3.Politicalscience–Economicaspects. 4.Finance,Public–Political
aspects. 5.Economicpolicy–Politicalaspects. 6.Politicalethics. I.Title.
JF1525.P6S76 2013
324–dc23 2013007954
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for
externalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnotguarantee
thatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Sue: My deep appreciation goes to my sons, Sam, David, and Andy,
whose curiosity about the world is inspiring, and to Steve Pincus,
wonderful scholar and wonderful husband.
Thad: I give my heartfelt thanks to my family, and especially my
partner Jennifer, for the humor, kindness, and patience on which I so
rely.
Marcelo: I wish to express special gratitude to Laura and to our
children, Santiago, Diego, Lautaro, and Lucı´a, for their patience and
support during these years.
Valeria: I wish to thank Mateo y Lucı´a, my kids, because they walked
(and traveled) with me.

Contents
ListofTables pagexi
ListofFigures xiii
PrefaceandAcknowledgments xvii
i modalities of distributive politics
1 BetweenClientsandCitizens:PuzzlesandConcepts
intheStudyofDistributivePolitics 3
1.1 ConceptualizingModesofDistribution 6
1.2 BasicQuestionsAboutDistributivePolitics 18
1.3 WhyStudyClientelism? 22
1.4 StructureoftheBook 24
1.5 ACommentonResearchMethods 26
ii the micro-logic of clientelism
2 GapsBetweenTheoryandFact 31
2.1 TheoriesofDistributivePolitics 32
2.2 ExplainingtheAnomaly:Is“Loyalty”Endogenous? 54
2.3 ExplainingtheAnomaly:Turnout-Buying? 66
2.4 ExplainingtheAnomaly:Subcontracting? 72
3 ATheoryofBroker-MediatedDistribution 75
3.1 AModelofRent-SeekingBrokers 77
3.2 TheObjectivesofPartyLeaders 91
3.3 TheImplicationsofAgencyLoss 92
4 TestingtheTheoryofBroker-MediatedDistribution 96
4.1 WhoAretheBrokers? 98
ix