DFG-Project „The Demand Side of Clientelism"
DFG-Project „The Demand Side of Clientelism
When and why do citizens choose to engage in clientelistic relations?
Until recently, political science literature on clientelism has paid little attention to this question and conceptualized poor citizens as willing vote sellers. In contrast, ethnographic literature on the topic highlights the agency of (potential) clients and the varying views they have on these exchanges.
Our project systematically studies the demand side of clientelism and seeks to understand the trade-offs of and welfare implications for citizens when engaging in clientelism. We consider a variety of clientelistic practices in rural and urban environments, including vote-buying, relational, and collective forms of clientelism. We conduct focus groups and survey experiments in rural and urban settings in Tunisia and South Africa to learn more about local practices as well as the perceptions and attitudes of the clients.
Our surveys use experimental methods in order to identify causal mechanisms and address potential social desirability biases.
The project is directed by Miquel Pellicer (UDE) and Eva Wegner (University College Dublin) and financed by the DFG.