This thesis brings to light political dynamics related to clientelism and other forms of corruption in Ghanaian electoral campaigns from 2012 to 2023. Specifically, the study seeks to answer the research question: how do political actors of the two major political parties in Ghana –the NPP and NDC –debate and argue about clientelism in Ghana? To answer this question, it analyzes three 2012, 2016, and 2020 elections and alternations in power, while also considering the upcoming 2024 elections. Using Discourse Analysis and drawing on primary and secondary data collected in Ghanian media (YouTube videos of political campaigns; televised interviews given to local media; etc.), this study unravels the cultural, religious and historical imports of language in the Ghanaian context of clientelism, veering away from the traditional definition of clientelism. The study finds that leading political actors in Ghana produce three types of discourses when they talk about clientelism: discourses on food and clientelism; discourses on family, clan, ethnicity and clientelism; and discourses on clientelism, wrongdoings and promises of politicians. These discourses use metaphors, proverbs, songs, speeches and other cultural references.

<p>Public opinion tools are used to look at voter motivations to engage in clientelistic practices and their variation across structures of competition.</p> / Dissertation

Non-governmental organisations (NGO) have been recognised as important actors when it comes to achieving a sustainable development. Cooperation between the state and NGOs is desirable and this thesis is a contribution to the knowledge about the cooperation between NGOs and the state. The objective is to provide a deeper understanding of the cooperation between environmental NGOs and the Moldovan state. The environmental NGOs that are chosen are based in Chisinau and have worked with waste management and recycling. Further the thesis also aims to suggest factors that can affect the nature of the relationship     between the chosen actors. To achieve this I carried out a case study of four environmental NGOs that are based in Chisinau. A representative from each NGO was interviewed about the organisation and its relationship to the state. Theories about clientelism and synergy were then used to analyse the results. I have come to the conclusion that there is a positive attitude towards cooperation with the state but at the same time the NGOs strive to maintain their independence from the state. In addition to this there are certain factors such as trust, availability of resources, and the characteristics of the NGOs can influence the nature of the relationship. This study is a contribution to the knowledge regarding NGO-state relationships and can be used as a base for further studies on this subject. This subject is important to study as NGOs have been identified as important actors in achieving a sustainable development and governments are encouraged to cooperate with them.

In this report, I analyze the worldwide decline of traditional clientelist political parties over the past century. To do this, I investigate the collapse of the Partido da Frente Liberal (PFL), a traditional clientelist party in Brazil who has experienced a rapid decline in support over the past decade. I argue that the PFL (renamed the Democratas in 2007) has entered a decline over the past decade because spending on social programs by the Brazilian federal government has reduced extreme poverty considerably over that same period. This reduction of poverty, in turn, has led many poor Brazilians to desert the PFL/D for parties such as the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). I conduct multivariate statistical analysis on an original dataset to support my argument. / text

Afghanistan a country affected by decades of war and invasions has been subject of democratization and state-building of foreign donors post-2001. Despite the efforts of international community for improvements of state institutions, the country is and has been located at the bottom corruption indexes for many years. This essay tries to understand and explain why Afghanistan has been at the bottom line of corruption despite external actor’s vast democracy aid and building of effective state institutions. The case study of Afghanistan with qualitative method and descriptive text analysis examine causes of corruption in Afghanistan. The materials consist of both statistical data in terms of surveys and scientific literature to provide explanations of corruption in Afghanistan. The analytical framework of the study is based on previous research where formal institutions with focus on political system and informal institutions with focus on clientelism, patronage and neopatrimonialism, are used to explain the empirical data. The findings are that corruption is endemic in Afghanistan, occurring at all sectors of the government and the main reason is the defective political structure along with patronage and clientelistic networks and a state that rest on neo-patrimonialism.

Powerful individuals often influence the delivery of government services for their own purposes. Officials may prefer inherently to direct assistance to their own relatives and social contacts (nepotistic preferences). Alternatively, they may use government services strategically in exchange for favors (patronage) or to gain voter support (clientelism). Most existing literature examines these three phenomena separately, or does not distinguish the motivations for politicians’ influence on distribution. Causal identification has also been a problem in the empirical literature. In the first chapter of this thesis, I develop a theoretical model of interaction between three levels of actors: politicians, local patrons, and households. The model allows for politicians and patrons to influence government services for nepotistic, clientelistic, and patronage purposes. In chapters 2-4, I test the predictions of the model using two novel household survey datasets I collected along with my collaborators in rural Punjab, Pakistan. Chapter 2 tests the theoretical predictions for the interaction of politicians, patrons and voters. Chapters 3 and 4 provide quasi-experimental evidence on the causal effect of links with politicians on assistance. I find evidence that politicians exert dramatic influence on the targeting of government assistance in this setting. Consistent with the theoretical model, the most assistance goes to a small “inner circle” of their closest contacts. Politicians assist this “inner circle” based on their inherent preferences, regardless of electoral pressure. When politicians face electoral pressure, they also deliver assistance to a wider group, in particular members of the same clan. In contrast, local patrons do not appear to have significant independent influence over the targeting of the government assistance programs I study, but they do provide other types of assistance to households. Their behavior is more consistent with the idea that they are motivated by inherent preferences for assisting their contacts. The results have implications for the interpretation of empirical literature on nepotism, clientelism, and patronage. They can also inform the policies of donor agencies and civil society organizations who aim to engage or pressure governments to reduce corruption and improve public spending.

Iran steht vor einer neuen Revolution. Die Wahlen und deren offensichtlicher Betrug haben die Spaltung des Landes zu Tage gefördert. Die theokratische Herrschaft kann sich nur noch durch einen ölgeförderten Klientelismus am Leben erhalten und steht nun dort, wo der Schah vor dreißig Jahren gestanden hat. Nur durch eine kluge Politik, die auch Versöhnung bietet, kann ein friedlicher Machtwechsel herbeigeführt und die Demokratisierung des Landes ermöglicht werden.

South Africa has been considered a bastion of democracy on the continent of Africa since its first fully democratic election in 1994. Yet, under its second president since apartheid, Thabo Mbeki, the consolidation of South Africas democratic gains tended to slow or even stagnate. This thesis develops a theoretical backdrop by explaining competing theories of leadership and development in Africa. With Thabo Mbekis promotion of the African Renaissance he should be considered to of promoted a good governance model of growth and leadership within South Africa. To determine whether Mbeki actively followed through in implementing good governance practices as leader of South Africa and the ANC this thesis analyzes three aspects of the African National Congress (ANC): centralization, corruption and the 2007 leadership succession. Through this analysis of these three aspects of the ANC under Mbeki the thesis moves to determine whether the former president should be considered to have cultivated a good governance regime while in office or whether his leadership of South Africa embraced more neopatrimonial logic.<p> This study finds that under Mbeki neopatrimonialism expanded significantly, particularly within the ruling ANC, and can to a certain extent be used to explained Mbekis actions while president of South Africa. Despite actively promoting a good governance agenda this thesis argues that Mbeki contributed to the stagnation of democratic gains in South Africa. This legacy will continue to effect future South African leaders including Mbekis arch-rival Jacob Zuma.

This dissertation examines the recent introduction of U.S.-style, image-based political management techniques into Colombian politics, a phenomenon facilitated by the comprehensive market and political reforms of the 1990s. The Colombian elites who favored these reforms hoped to dismantle the clientelistic networks of private interests that, in their view, perpetuated a corrupt, ineffective, and at times, collusive two-party system. They hoped that a multi-party system would provide Colombian voters with real political choice. However, despite these efforts, clientelism continues to thrive under the new regime. With party/faction loyalty no longer the dominant driver in elections, campaigns now hire political managers to guide voters’ choices based on individual candidates’ appeal. Ironically, these practices have created “electoral industries,” networks of voters organized around political figures as opposed to party platforms. These electoral industries have easily adapted to existing clientelistic networks, the very networks the reforms were meant to dismantle. Meanwhile, through the language of market segmentation, political elites have publicly moralized clientelism’s resilience, characterizing it as a persistent, anti-modern behavior that can be objectively correlated with lower class voters. Their portrait of clientelism stands in stark contrast to the liberal political subjectivity (grounded in individual choice) that they attribute to urban middle and upper classes. According to these ideas, political managers mobilize specific technologies meant to more effectively manage each kind of vote. While lower class voters are managed through face-to-face networks and informal channels of communication, middle and upper class voters are reached through broadcast media and web-based social media. By looking at the institutional platforms, expert knowledge, political technologies and normative political ideas at work in the organization of these environments for political participation, my work explores the features of liberalism that allow clientelism and media-based politics to coexist, and even thrive, under a single system. Specifically, I trace the emergence of a form of “strategic citizenship,” to borrow Partha Chatterjee’s term, that I argue is the latest guise that the transactional dimensions of liberalism has taken.

South Africa has been considered a bastion of democracy on the continent of Africa since its first fully democratic election in 1994. Yet, under its second president since apartheid, Thabo Mbeki, the consolidation of South Africas democratic gains tended to slow or even stagnate. This thesis develops a theoretical backdrop by explaining competing theories of leadership and development in Africa. With Thabo Mbekis promotion of the African Renaissance he should be considered to of promoted a good governance model of growth and leadership within South Africa. To determine whether Mbeki actively followed through in implementing good governance practices as leader of South Africa and the ANC this thesis analyzes three aspects of the African National Congress (ANC): centralization, corruption and the 2007 leadership succession. Through this analysis of these three aspects of the ANC under Mbeki the thesis moves to determine whether the former president should be considered to have cultivated a good governance regime while in office or whether his leadership of South Africa embraced more neopatrimonial logic.<p> This study finds that under Mbeki neopatrimonialism expanded significantly, particularly within the ruling ANC, and can to a certain extent be used to explained Mbekis actions while president of South Africa. Despite actively promoting a good governance agenda this thesis argues that Mbeki contributed to the stagnation of democratic gains in South Africa. This legacy will continue to effect future South African leaders including Mbekis arch-rival Jacob Zuma.