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This paper explores how political patronage can affect the labour market experience of high-skilled workers, and how jobseekers respond in such instances. A budding, primarily quantitative, literature has assessed corruption and labour market outcomes, but little has been written on how agents navigate corrupt practices and political patronage in the labour market. A mixed methods design is used, drawing on survey and focus group data from Sierra Leone. Findings show that when recruitment decisions are influenced by political connections ahead of merit, there is wide perceptions of unfairness in the labour market. Political patronage and corrupt practices in the labour market affect the allocation of jobs, how long it takes for some jobseekers to find jobs, and the quality of the match. Jobseekers respond to such practices by reducing job search and/or limiting search to particular sectors and jobs. In Sierra Leone, this primarily emerges as the development sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IMPACT: It is very important to recognize that, apparent irony notwithstanding, a merit-based, apolitical career civil service has become a vital support to large-scale democracy. Thus, policies that seek to appoint loyalists in administrative positions threaten the basis of democracy. The authors stress the importance of a career civil service recruited on the basis of merit, while at the same time recognizing the need for genuine civil service reform. The article also highlights the importance of career civil servants to citizens. The concept and practice of a merit-based career civil service originated in ancient China, but only under large-scale, complex democratic forms of government did it become the cornerstone for a career civil service faithfully serving that democracy, and thus working for society at large. While there is inherent tension at the interstice of democratic politics and politically impartial administration, this merit principle has served the citizens of these democracies very well. However, it is being challenged by populist politicians and its very existence is threatened as a result. This populist challenge has been a staple in American politics and society since the 1950s, and while the authors reject some of its desire to return to a 'spoils system' to staff the career bureaucracy, the American civil service system nevertheless is in need of some reforms, especially with regard to the accountability of individual civil servants to their democratically elected or appointed superiors. In this article the authors explore the origins and ramifications of Trump's Schedule F Executive Order and, based on that exploration, they offer some possibilities regarding those reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emanating beyond the confines of academia, the poignant narrative of the renowned Turkish thespian Afife Jale has garnered widespread recognition within Türkiye. Amid a pantheon of successors, her tale stands as the most profoundly heartrending. It has been immortalized through theatrical productions and cinematic adaptations. Despite the widespread familiarity with her story, the enigmatic underpinnings of her tragedy have perpetually shrouded it in mystery. In an effort to cast light upon the chronicle of her life, a convergence of political and societal truths has emerged. Afife Jale's story, in its very essence, embodies the ideals expounded by Joan W. Scott. The realm of feminist historiography endeavors to bring prominence to women's narratives, elucidating their endeavors to champion their entitlements and autonomy within historical contexts. It seeks to delve into the causalities behind the historical obscurity that has veiled women's contributions, while also revealing the obstructions that have curtailed their authority and efficacy. This article aspires to achieve this objective by scrutinizing the careers of the first Turkish Muslim actresses, Afife Jale (1902–41) and Bedia Muvahhit (1896–1994), who commenced their artistic journeys at the onset of the twentieth century. Whereas Afife Jale's stage debut in 1920 coincided with the twilight of Ottoman rule, Bedia Muvahhit made her inaugural appearance in 1923, the very year that saw the founding of the Turkish Republic. Despite this seemingly minor difference, the professional journeys of these two actresses were characterized by stark disparities. Afife Jale bore the weight of authoritarian oppression and persecution, and her legacy remained largely overlooked, even after the Turkish Republic was founded. In contrast, Bedia Muvahhit thrived under the patronage and backing of the political elite, leading to a lengthy and prosperous career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The politicization of the civil service is not a new phenomenon but it is highly contested and contingent on the environmental and institutional contexts in which it operates. The global environment has changed radically and has become more turbulent witnessed by, inter alia, the rise of populism and democratic backsliding. Institutional contexts have also changed as politicians demand greater accountability from officials in implementing their (mandated) policies. What is new is the various forms that politicization takes. This review paper takes relations between politicians, political staff and bureaucracy and offers a multi-dimensional analysis of the politicization concept: politicized appointments; politicized recruitment; behavioural politicization; and, structural politicization. We analyse politicization in different regimes: the UK as liberal democracy; Georgia as electoral democracy; and Turkey as electoral autocracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the advisory arrangements within the Chancellery of the President of the Romanian Senate, examining in a comparative manner the profiles and roles of the two types of in-house advisors, tenured parliamentary experts and personal advisors, in designing and influencing the decision-making process. The article uses a complex methodology based on social network analysis, qualitative and content analysis of semi-structured interviews with former Chancellery directors, and quantitative analysis of personnel data in order to present a full picture of the internal relations and interactions between the parliamentary experts and personal advisors over the period from March 10, 2014 until July 29, 2022, covering seven different Romanian Senate president mandates. Our findings show that for tenured civil servants, activity within the Chancellery constitutes one of the most important periods of their professional career, while for personal advisors, the activity within the Chancellery is another window of opportunity to enhance their political network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invalid votes are pervasive in many democracies and can threaten the legitimacy of elections. While often associated with factors such as choice complexity and disengagement, especially under compulsory voting rules, intentional ballot spoiling can also signal a political protest. We examine the argument that spoiling ballots as protest should occur under compulsory voting where voters perceive limited legitimacy to the electoral process and a lack of viable options. Using municipal elections in Ecuador, a context featuring both compulsory voting and a period of democratic erosion, we examine subnational variation in both spoiled and blank ballots. While factors related to sophistication and choice complexity explain variation in both forms of invalid voting, our results also reveal patterns consistent with the expectation that spoiled ballots reflect a protest of a lack of competition in the political system. Specifically, we find that areas opposed to Rafael Correa's dominant party had a higher rate of spoiled ballots in the 2014 mayoral elections, a period when party dominance was consolidated and competition weak. This pattern declined in 2019 when the system's competitiveness increased. A separate analysis of the 2019 elections for the Correa-era participatory governance body suggests continued use of spoiled ballots as protest by opposition voters, but primarily in higher connectivity areas where the online coordination on use of this tactic may have had greater influence. Overall, our study sheds light on factors shaping invalid vote patterns in compulsory systems and highlights spoiled ballots' potential as a means to signal protest under conditions where some voters would perceive a decline in the legitimacy of democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on biased public sector hiring highlights local politicians' incentives to distribute government positions to partisan supporters. Other studies instead point to the role of bureaucratic managers in allocating government jobs to close contacts. We jointly consider the relative importance of each source of biased hiring as an allocation problem between managers and politicians who have different preferences regarding public sector hiring and different abilities to realize those preferences. We develop a theoretical model of each actor's relative leverage and relative preferences for different types of public sector positions. We empirically examine our theory using the universe of payroll data in Kenyan local governments from 2004 to 2013. We find evidence of both patronage and bureaucratic favoritism, but with different types of bias concentrated in different types of government jobs, as our theory predicts. Our results highlight the inadequacy of examining political patronage alone without incorporating the preferences and leverage of the bureaucratic managers who are intricately involved in hiring processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of limited state capacity and a politicized public administration, democratic backsliding tends to exploit preexisting deficiencies in the functioning of the public sector. Whereas staffing managerial positions with regime supporters is well‐documented, less attention has been paid to the structuring and staffing of street‐level bureaucracies under a spoils system. In this article, we use document analysis and in‐depth interviews to analyze the case of Mexico's "Servants of the Nation" —a group of more than 19,000 former party members and sympathizers hired by the government to perform street‐level tasks— as an example of "parabureaucracy": an auxiliary street‐level organization designed to perform a wide variety of tasks directly related to the executive's political agenda. We argue that parabureaucracies are designed to sideline formal administrative command structures for the benefit of the government in power but may also serve as a means to bypass stifled and dysfunctional traditional bureaucracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each individual has different identities, some of which are collective in structure. These collective identities provide the individual with both the sense that s/he is covered with solidarity and instills the feeling of security brought by belonging to a community. One of such collective identities in traditional communities is the identity of tribe. It is obvious that tribe, which is woven with extremely tight bonds, based on blood relations and requires attachment is effective on the individual. The purpose of our research we have conducted in Şanlıurfa is to determine the effects of tribal associations on the identities of individuals. For this purpose, Melucci 's description of collective identity was made use of. According to Melucci, collective identity has three different dimensions named relational, conflict and continuity, all of which are related to one another. It was attempted to determine the effects of tribal associations on its members within an urban environment. The Haltans Tribal Association in Şanlıurfa was selected as the sample. It was found out that the tribal association assumed a significant role as regards the continuity of communication between the members of the association as a result of the field study conducted using the depth interview technique. Another function of the association is its role in the protection of interests of the members of the tribe thanks to the safety net it provides. Presence of political patronage relationships transforms tribal associations into platforms of protection of interests. While some individuals considered the association as a part of their identities with feelings of belonging, some other members of the tribe considered association membership as a must for the continuity of their interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of clientelism as a mobilization strategy in the Western Balkans, focusing on its interplay with other linkage strategies and its two primary sub-types: electoral and relational clientelism. Drawing on data from the Democratic Accountability and Linkages Project II (DALP II) expert survey, the study covers six party systems: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The findings reveal that clientelism is one of the most frequently employed strategies in the region, characterized by durable linkages between parties, brokers, and voters, the distribution of public resources, significant use of negative inducements, and targeting across income groups. Relational clientelism, or patronage, emerges as the dominant form, extending beyond electoral goals to function as an organizing principle within party structures. This paper contributes to the understanding of clientelism in the region and highlights its implications for democratic accountability and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the relationship between heterogeneous political connections and corporate overinvestment. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a comprehensive Malaysian dataset of 834 publicly listed companies from 2000 to 2022, the authors employed multivariate ordinary least squares regression to test the relationship. Findings: Despite different types of political connections, the findings demonstrate a positive relationship between political connections and corporate overinvestment. In particular, the association is more profound in government-linked companies (GLCs) but weaker in firms that developed political ties through family members of ruling elites. Further analysis reveals that the "helping hand" effect is only observed in GLCs and firms with politically connected directors and businessmen, whereas the "grabbing hand" effect is observed among firms connected through board, businessmen, and family ties. Moreover, the relationship is more persistent among firms with politically connected directors and businessmen around the regime change. Research limitations/implications: Regardless of the types of political connections, the findings show that politically connected firms tend to engage in rent-seeking through political patronage networks and high levels of government interference in resource allocation. Therefore, a more sophisticated monitoring system should be developed within the political patronage networks to reduce the likelihood of different types of political-business collusion. In terms of research limitations, the research design does not consider the influence of financial constraints and management efficiency. Future research could explore these facets to comprehensively understand the dynamics between political connections and corporate investment decisions. Practical implications: The evidence informs market participants about the relationship between heterogeneous political connections and corporate overinvestment, reinforcing previous findings that crony capitalism, political patronage, agency problems, and weak governance are well-entrenched in Malaysia's emerging economy. The government should acknowledge these concerns by enacting anti-corruption campaigns and promoting a fair business environment. In the meantime, policymakers might redesign regulations and revise corporate governance frameworks to substantially reduce the value of political connections, thereby diminishing the bargaining power of politicians. Social implications: As corporate investment efficiency has a considerable impact on firm value, investment decisions that enhance firm value will increase share price and maximise shareholder value. Conversely, firms may damage shareholder value if they overinvest or undertake projects that do not yield sufficient. Hence, the findings of this study may assist investors in making more informed judgements, particularly by understanding different types of business-government relations, as political connections are one of the determinants of corporate overinvestment. Originality/value: This study reveals that the degree to which overinvestment issues manifest within firms is influenced by the nature of the political connections those firms possess. This indicates that politically connected firms should not be regarded as a homogenous group of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the significance of hydroelectric mini-grids owned and operated by Catholic sisterhoods in rural Tanzania, situating them within a broader context of energy transition and environmental justice. The Tanzanian state is betting that mini-grids can effectively supplement the national grid's limited reach; since 2010 it has invested considerable effort in developing a regulatory framework that streamlines licensing procedures and specifies feed-in tariffs. Today, the field is wide open and a range of ownership models – community, private, state-owned – are unfolding on the ground with variable results regarding their financial sustainability, environmental impact, and developmental outcomes. Though often overlooked in this discourse, missions, churches, abbeys, and convents have a history of operating run-of-the-river power stations and other off-grid systems that stretches back into the colonial era. Such infrastructures anchor material and spiritual economies of rain, care, and cash that straddle both community and commercially oriented modes of provisioning. Their continued presence suggests that in some ways this new paradigm of decentralized energy provision builds upon long-standing historical logics of patronage and political authority in marginal areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international educational agenda that drives the educational expansion in the Global South makes universalist assumptions about the role of education in reducing poverty and promoting social mobility. Challenging these assumptions, this paper asks whether educational expansion in such contexts reduces social inequality across generations by offering individuals, from whatever background, educational opportunities and access to higher status livelihoods. By using Weberian and Bourdieusian theoretical frameworks, and drawing upon the perspectives of the families in rural Punjab, the paper contributes to the literature by revealing how local rural power relations in landownership, caste systems, religious identity, and political patronage, and their manifestation in the cultural realm, enact a form of social closure that closes off resources and opportunities for the disadvantaged to pursue social mobility through schooling. These power relations not only place limits on the assumed equalizing role of education in rural Punjab, but they also tend to perpetuate inequality in and through education. The paper argues that a sociological understanding of the role that education plays in the everyday rural life is crucial for designing a nuanced educational agenda capable of engaging with, rather than assuming away social and economic inequality in hierarchal societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Politicos (01215167) is the property of Universidad de Antioquia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The international educational agenda that drives the educational expansion in the Global South makes universalist assumptions about the role of education in reducing poverty and promoting social mobility. Challenging these assumptions, this paper asks whether educational expansion in such contexts reduces social inequality across generations by offering individuals, from whatever background, educational opportunities and access to higher status livelihoods. By using Weberian and Bourdieusian theoretical frameworks, and drawing upon the perspectives of the families in rural Punjab, the paper contributes to the literature by revealing how local rural power relations in landownership, caste systems, religious identity, and political patronage, and their manifestation in the cultural realm, enact a form of social closure that closes off resources and opportunities for the disadvantaged to pursue social mobility through schooling. These power relations not only place limits on the assumed equalizing role of education in rural Punjab, but they also tend to perpetuate inequality in and through education. The paper argues that a sociological understanding of the role that education plays in the everyday rural life is crucial for designing a nuanced educational agenda capable of engaging with, rather than assuming away social and economic inequality in hierarchal societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A politicization of diplomacy weakens the professionalism of the foreign service and arguably endangers the external relations of states. Yet, this phenomenon has largely escaped scholarly scrutiny. Public administration research on politicization usually overlooks the foreign service, whereas diplomacy scholars have focused almost exclusively on the United States. Our exploratory study of ambassador appointments compares the levels and modes of politicization (through politically connected professionals, or political appointees) of 669 ambassadors in 2019, across seven countries and three administrative traditions. The analysis is guided by three expectations: 1) countries that are more politicized overall appoint more non-career ambassadors; 2) patronage recruitment of political appointees focuses on low-hardship postings; and 3) politically connected professionals are used to control politically important foreign missions. We find that states politicize their foreign services to a varied degree and in different ways. Appointing politically connected professionals instead of political appointees is the most common way of politicization among our cases. In this regard, the US is an outlier, which also points to the need of studying politicization of diplomacy comparatively. This article thus makes an important contribution by setting the agenda for future research on this hitherto underexplored topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Crooked Course of Charles Crowe: A Reconstruction Narrative" is an article that explores the life of Charles C. Crowe, a white southern Republican during the Reconstruction era. The article discusses Crowe's personal journey, including his political advocacy, marriage, and military service, as well as the challenges he faced as a white Republican in the South during this period. It also examines the political landscape in Alabama during Reconstruction and the role of Crowe, a former Confederate captain who became a prominent Republican. The text sheds light on the efforts of southern Republicans to find opportunities in the western territories and contributes to our understanding of Reconstruction and the experiences of scalawags. [Extracted from the article]

Amid Lebanon's multifaceted economic crisis, this paper explores the intricate dynamics between political patronage networks and financial stability. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of New Institutional Economics (NIE) and Project Management (PM), the study delves into how entrenched political elites and patronage networks have shaped Lebanon's financial system, exacerbating vulnerabilities and perpetuating the ongoing crisis. Utilizing qualitative methods including in-depth interviews, document analysis, and case studies, the research illuminates the pivotal role of political actors and their vested interests in economic policies and financial institutions. The findings reveal systemic governance failures, crony capitalism, and institutional decay as underlying causes of Lebanon's economic stress. In response, the paper proposes a comprehensive framework for governance reform that integrates insights from NIE and PM, emphasizing structured planning, accountability mechanisms, and institutional strengthening. The purpose of this study is not only to contribute to a nuanced understanding of Lebanon's challenges but also to offer actionable insights for policymakers, academics, and stakeholders to address the root causes of the crisis and pave the way for sustainable economic recovery and revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-engaged scholarship has largely neglected the potential of sports to construct progressive forms of community and mobilize disparate interests. In this article, we critically reflect on how sports were used for placemaking purposes in the Friendship and Hope Campaign, an annual event that is driven by residents of Thembelihle, a low-income community in South Africa. The Campaign is a participatory and community-based intervention that seeks to strengthen community relations and mobilize resources to build peaceful, nonracial, and nonsexist communities. Although the Campaign hosted several sports tournaments and cultural events, its attempt to strengthen community cohesion for the purposes of making democratically-led change renders it a political approach to placemaking. Yet, as with all community-engaged work, this was far from a simplistic process. The Campaign's deployment of sports as a placemaking practice was complicated by a multitude of political interests that oftentimes contradicted the community-oriented values and aims of the Campaign. We reflect on how patronage politics can assist us in understanding such internal contestations and conflicting interests, and how community campaigns can work to move through and hold complexity in a democratic fashion, rather than attempt to settle such complexity altogether [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how negative oil shocks affect military expenditures and the quality of democracy in the oil rentier states of the greater Middle East using annual data from 1990 to 2018, inclusive. The theoretical analysis suggests that a reduction in oil revenues decreases the government spending on patronages and public goods and may challenge the political power of the incumbent leader. The results of the impulse response functions based on the estimated panel vector autoregressive models indicate that the responses of the military burden and non-military expenditures (as a percentage of GDP) to negative oil shocks become negative and statistically significant after three to four years. Reductions in the financial capability of a rentier government and spending on patronages improve the political environment and quality of democracy. However, this political improvement takes some time to develop as the government may resist the reduction in its expenditures during the initial phase of oil shocks. The policy implication of these results is informative for organizations and policymakers interested in the security and political impact of oil sanctions. Restrictions on oil exports decrease the military spending of the oil rentier states and improve their democracy indices in the long run, although the short-run impacts can be negative. These results are not sensitive to different proxies for oil abundance, alternative data on military expenditures, different indicators of democracy, and different groups of oil-dependent countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In divided-executive patronal systems, legislatures have been sites of resistance to the centralization of power in a single patronal pyramid. Kyrgyzstan is an anomaly among divided-executive patronal systems when between 2010 to 2020, the Kyrgyz parliament was neither a site of opposition nor did it demonstrate legislative agency vis-à-vis the executive. Instead, following another uprising in 2020, a unified single patronal pyramid was re-established. Adopting an approach rooted in the semiotics of meaning making and drawing on a dataset of interviews with parliamentary deputies and a range of documentary sources, this article complements existing institutional approaches to explaining weak legislative agency by revealing a series of dialogical relationships between deputy meaning making and broader institutional and cultural constraints which shaped the Kyrgyz's parliament's overall quality and strength. These relationships pertain to legislative initiative, the protection of private interests and representation, with the interplay between the ascribed meaning and its constitution within broader institutional and cultural context contributing to the diminishment of legislative agency vis-à-vis the presidency. Kyrgyzstan illustrates the value of meaning making as an approach to understanding legislative-executive relations in non-democratic contexts, and its impact in conjunction with cultural and institutional constraints in shaping legislative agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding clientelist practices is one of the core issues to unravel to ensure the proper functioning of electoral institutions. This article focuses on the decision of patrons/brokers on who to target, introducing a new norm into the picture – authoritarianism. Building on the theories of norm-based compliance, I argued that authoritarian individuals should be more frequently targeted, as they should be more likely to comply with brokers demands without external monitoring. I posit that this is true because authoritarian individuals should be more willing to submit to the will and demands of authorities (brokers), and because they are likely to evaluate clientelism as morally acceptable and a legitimate electoral strategy. Furthermore, the rate of authoritarian targeting should be higher in institutional settings that limit the overall reach of clientelism. Utilizing Afrobarometer (2011-2013) data for 34 countries, through multilevel regression modelling I show that authoritarian individuals do have a higher chance of being targeted with the strength of this association increasing as the district magnitude rises. This article opens a new avenue of research that introduces individual level authoritarianism into the literature on clientelist targeting and complements the norm-based compliance approach with a focus on a new and potentially influential norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political interference has been one of the leading factors in inhibiting state-owned entities reach their mandates. Through political patronage, political elites are the gateway to the SOE's thus impacting the efficacy of most state-owned entities. In this regard, South African Airways (SAA) is also one of the entities in the grip of corruption due to political patronage. Therefore, this political patronage has been the difference between the efficacy of SAA in executing its mandate. SAA has been taking center stage due to corruption, maladministration, and failure to execute its mandate as a result of political interference as well as patronage. This paper reviews existing literature on the effect of political patronage on the efficacy of SAA in executing its mandate. In doing so, the paper employed qualitative techniques. Document analysis was utilized to understand the effect of political patronage on SAA's ability to execute its mandate. Eventually, the paper discovered that political patronage affects the ability of SAA to execute its mandate. The paper then closes by making recommending mechanisms for inhibiting political interference in SOE most specifically SAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the lead precursors to unstable local governance in the contemporary South Africa pertains to the embedded culture of political patronage. It is believed that the provisions added to the newly amended version of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 3 of 2022, which among other things, limits the political rights of officials, will somehow counter the existing patronage patterns. While this Amendment Act is a step in the right direction in as far as professionalisation of the local government sector is concerned, the question that this article attempts to answer is: will this attempt to insulate officials from politics result in stable municipal administrations, ethical conduct, professionalism, service delivery and less political interference? In addition, what are the ramifications that political parties are likely to encounter as a result of the curtailed political rights of their members? One of the findings is that the inserted changes are going to destabilise, firstly, the intra-party arrangements at political level, and secondly, will uproot elements of favouritism, nepotism and to some extent frustrate the existing culture of patronage in municipalities. However, it must be acknowledged that this is not going to be easy, given the damage already done such as bloated organograms, and the practice of cadre deployment which is facilitated by ruling parties in councils. With local government being at the coalface of service delivery and development, professionalisation is crucial but there is also a need to cultivate and encourage a strong ethos and philosophy of praxis underpinned by Ubuntu, the African philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local brokers are essential in the implementation of clientelist politics, but their efforts on parties' behalf are not fully observable. A growing literature studies how parties address this agency problem, highlighting two distinct reward schemes: allocating promotions or prizes based on observed vote shares or doing so based on inferred effort allocations. This article develops a formal model to examine the conditions under which one or the other of these reward schemes is optimal for minimizing brokers' rent seeking. Intuitively, the effort-based reward mechanism is optimal when broker effort is inferred with relative precision. Less intuitively, the vote-based mechanism will tend to be optimal when a party's supporters are evenly distributed across regions and when the prize β adopts intermediate values, which together lead to high levels of interbroker competition. When brokers must compete with one another over valued prizes, parties can often minimize rent seeking without directly monitoring broker effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study provides an overview of the history of the civil service in South Korea, focusing on political appointments at the upper levels of the bureaucracy. We limit our investigation's scope to presidential appointments of ministers and underscore the necessity for additional scholarly attention to this subject. To empirically assess these appointments, we introduce a novel dataset and conduct an analysis that examines the demographic characteristics and career paths of past ministers, alongside the types of political patronage employed in their appointments. This analysis utilizes the analytical framework of loyalty versus competence as proposed by (Ouyang, Y., Haglund, E. T., & Waterman, R. W. (2017). The missing element: Examining the loyalty-competence nexus in presidential appointments. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 47(1), 62–91.) and the typology of patronage outlined by (Panizza, F., Peters, B. G., & Ramos Larraburu, C. R. (2019). Roles, trust and skills: A typology of patronage appointments. Public Administration, 97(1), 147–161), which is further elaborated by (Peters, B. G. (2023). Patronage in Asian political systems: A framework for research. In B. G. Peters, C. Knox, & B. Kim (Eds.), Political patronage in Asian bureaucracies (pp. 1–21). Cambridge University Press). Our findings reveal that, irrespective of the regime or ministry, programmatic technocrats are the most prevalent type of presidential appointee in South Korea, with nearly half being former bureaucrats. Although most ministers in South Korea align with this category, we also discern significant variations across different regimes and ministries. These findings provide insights into the practices of political appointments in South Korea's civil service and contribute to the literature on public administration and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instrumental use of patronage for political appointments and career advancement can be found across all regime types and historical periods. Despite a pronounced academic interest in the political and economic effects of patron-client relationships, little is known about the nature of interplay between informal networks and formal hierarchies. How are formal powers distributed in personalized bureaucracies? The article addresses this question through a cross-temporal case study of subnational government in one of Russia's regions – Sverdlovsk Oblast. Based on network analysis and negative binomial regression, the article shows that subnational leaders and their clienteles seek to monopolize those formal powers that allow administrative control over other executive agencies, while other coercive, financial, and normative powers are distributed relatively evenly. This pattern persists regardless of institutional context, degree of subnational autonomy, or the shape of informal networks, which signifies the importance of controlling functions that the core of informal networks in personalized bureaucracies performs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010, waves of protest have ebbed and now largely faded across the Arab states of the Middle East, and authoritarian politics there appear to be stronger than ever. Has dissent disappeared, or merely become harder to notice? I argue in this article that clientelism serves as an important locus of latent dissent in the Middle East, one that calls into question the legitimacy of authoritarian regimes, though it often happens away from public view. Employing data from four waves of the Arab Barometer, however, I show that the more citizens perceive clientelism to be prevalent in society, the less likely they are to willingly obey their government when they disagree with it. This finding is most pronounced among those most on the fence about obeying the government in the first place, and during periods in which overt dissent is least apparent. Clientelism beliefs also increase support for democratic alternatives in the most recent data. In addition, while clientelism should increase voting and election-related mobilization, I find inconsistent results across time. This article complicates our current understanding of the role clientelism plays in authoritarian states, and it sheds new light on the "client side" of the patron-client relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the preference of public school teachers for sending their children to private schools has been regarded as a dilemma, and the reasons behind the choices made by public school teachers and the consequences of these preferences have been uncovered through semistructured interviews with public school teachers. The research was limited to the views of 17 teachers working in public schools in Ankara, Turkey, in the 2021-2022 academic year who send their children to private schools. The phenomenological method, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in this study. The data obtained from the interviews were analysed using content analysis technique. As a result of the analysis, the reasons why public school teachers send their children to private schools can be categorized into two groups. The first category, "push factors away from public schools," comprises four sub-categories: "the physical condition of schools," "lack of school services," "lack of academic offerings" and "school population". The second category, "pull to private schools," includes four sub-categories: "spoils system," "religionization," "allurements of private schools," and "education and training incentives given to private schools." According to the participants, the most important consequences of private school existence are social segregation and the inequalities that arise between students attending private schools who go to private schools and those who cannot. Disparities between public and private schools are also examined in accordance with the participants' views under the codes of disparities related to students, teachers, and administration. Finally, the participants' recommendations for strengthening public education explored across four codes such as "building/physical changes in the school", "changes in school services", "academic changes" and "state policy changes". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Historia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article "Musical life and civic identity in Renaissance France" explores the vibrant and dynamic role of music and sound in negotiating status, power, and identity in Renaissance France, particularly in the Loire Valley region. The conference convened by Alexander Robinson and Philippe Vendrix aimed to expand the understanding of France's musical experience beyond prestigious institutions to include a wider spectrum of individuals across civic and professional spheres. Scholars delved into municipal and cathedral archives, diaries, and diplomatic records to uncover the rich history of music and sound in France from the early 16th to mid-17th centuries, shedding light on the intersections of music, politics, and religion in shaping civic identity. [Extracted from the article]

This research article compares the metalworking technique of Bidriware in the Indian subcontinent from the 17th to 19th century with that of the Mosul School of Mesopotamia in Iraq during the 13th century. Although the literature contains vague accounts of how Bidriware emerged in India, there is a significant lack of research highlighting its similarity to and potential origin from the Mosul School of metalwork art. Texts on Bidriware and the Mosul School are used alongside images of diverse works of art from reputable world museums in an attempt to make this initial connection. The paper highlights how political exchange from the 12th and 13th centuries onwards between Mesopotamia and the Indian subcontinent led to the passage of many motifs, rituals and cultural elements that can clearly be seen in the production of Bidriware centuries later.

Utilizing an original data set, this paper demonstrates how protectionist industrial policy during the period of hybrid liberalization has shaped the organizational structure of clothing firms in Egypt. It investigates determinants of vertical integration of clothing firms into fabric production. High-end market segments are a critical determinant of integration. Limited access to finance restricts the possibilities for many firms to undertake the investment required to integrate, whilst volatile and uncertain market conditions make firms more likely to rely on the market for their inputs. But there are nuances related to market segment. Producers of higher quality garments rely on imported textiles, so these producers do not integrate even if search and switch costs are high. But the opposite is true of producers relying on domestic suppliers. Foreign institutions are better able to ensure contract enforcement with respect to quality and timely delivery so that suppliers' opportunistic behaviour is deterred, reducing the necessity of clothing firms to integrate. This may not be the case with respect to domestic suppliers when domestic institutions do not guarantee the same level of enforcement. The adoption of the hybrid liberalization model meant that the transition to a market economy was not preceded by the creation of the necessary regulatory framework. This model resulted in inefficient upstream production and in an institutional setting conducive to agency problems. It also meant that business suffers excessive and inefficient bureaucracy. It is thus not possible for firms to achieve the first best outcome of arm's length relations based on frictionless market transactions. Given these structural constraints firms opt for the second best solution of make rather than buy, i.e. vertical integration. But only some firms are able to use the arbitrary and discretionary decision making system to their favour, negotiating government obstacles to successful business. Those linked to power, prospered, whilst the businesses of others foundered against the wall of patronage, bureaucracy and red tape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do politicians cluster the distribution of benefits in the run‐up to elections? I suggest that credit claiming is an explanation for political budget cycles. Brazilian rules banning credit claiming before elections while allowing the distribution of benefits until Election Day provides an opportunity to differentiate between distribution and credit claiming combined with distribution as an engine that reinforces political budget cycles. Evidence from housing and conditional‐cash‐transfer programs demonstrates that officials expand these programs before the credit‐claiming ban and halt expansion after the ban yet prior to Election Day. Drawing on social media and qualitative data, I show that politicians use credit claiming to convey information about their competence and attribution. Distribution without attribution reduces the likelihood of political budget cycles compared to distribution with attribution, which together reinforces pre‐election expansion of policy benefits. I rule out rival explanations of clientelism and party favoritism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kokang is an ethnic minority group that settled along the Myanmar-China borderland with dual identity as it has long historical ties of nationalism and patronage with various political factions in China while located outside China's border. This article explores how Kokang's Ethnic Revolutionary Organization (ERO), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and their leaders construct Kokang's identity to their benefit. Based on desk research method, the article found that Kokang's dual identity allows them to self-categorize themselves as Chinese or separate-independent ethnic minorities in Myanmar while setting ethnic boundaries with various political entities to protect their interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contexts where social cleavages are universally salient, how can political alliances across social identity groups be forged? A wealth of research examines the effects of either electoral rules or social identity on electoral behavior, but the interplay between these two factors is understudied. This article leverages original datasets of tribal voting coalitions, parliamentarian constituent casework logs, and a national survey in Jordan to demonstrate how institutions interact with social identity to shape distributive politics. Within single non-transferable vote districts (SNTV), representatives win their seats based on tribal support and practice tribal favoritism in service provision. On the contrary, elected officials in single member plurality districts (SMDs) cobble together more diverse coalitions to win their seats and distribute state benefits more evenly between in-group and out-group members. Bolstering these findings, data from a 2014 nationwide survey show that a history of having tribal connections with parliamentarians' augments voter turnout in SNTV districts, whereas it has no relationship with voter turnout in SMDs. This article offers an understanding of why politicians build electoral coalitions and distribute clientelistic benefits within or across social identity groups with important implications for the consideration of electoral institutional design in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indonesia represents a contrasting type of mobilization regime, in which individual candidates organize their own I ad hoc campaign teams i , through which they distribute micro-level benefits during electoral campaign periods using mainly private (not public) resources. As the authors illustrate with broker-survey data and anecdotes, distinguishing I local machine i regimes from I ad hoc team i regimes particularly enriches the comparative research by departing from the dichotomy of relational and single-shot clientelism. [Extracted from the article]

Patronage is often considered a subtype of clientelism that arises through reciprocal arrangements between a politician and a citizen, where electoral support is rewarded with public employment. In Chile, there is evidence of clientelist practices at the municipal level. However, these studies have mainly had a qualitative focus. To complement these studies, this research aims to provide quantitative evidence using panel data and two-way fixed effects. Thus, we analyse the personnel hiring through the Mercado Público platform between 2009 and 2017 across the country’s 345 municipalities, finding evidence that support two hypotheses: (i) there is a political budget cycle, increasing spending by 14.9% during the election year and (ii) independent politicians spend less on hiring people than mayors who are militants of political parties, being this expenditure -9.8% less for independents than for the latter. These results seek to complement other research on clientelism and patronage in a context of the rise of independent politicians and citizen questioning of traditional political parties, as well as the relevance of public spending in local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature, foundations, and objects of both state-owned and privately-owned entities are to meet the commercial mandate of being profitable. Be that as it may, state-owned entities (SOEs) are established to generate extra revenue for the government other than tax-based revenue. To this end, the government in South Africa and elsewhere has various SOEs established for the latter mentioned fact, and as such, the government maintains dominant control over these entities. Using South African Airways (SAA), which is a South African SOE, and Comair, a Privately-Owned Entity (POE) operating alongside SAA, we examine the effects of political patronage on the competitiveness of SOEs against POEs. We use qualitative research methods to narrate these effects, relying on multiple existing scientific and official reports as our data sources. We argue that SOEs such as SAA are not competitive like POEs such as Comair. This is due to the fact that, while SAA has been relying on the government for bailouts since 1994 to date, Comair has had to sustain its operations without relying on the government like SAA. We further maintain that SAA's existence is based on patronage. The bailouts by the government for SAA sustain the patronage network of ministers in charge of entities, CEOs, and board members. We conclude that POEs such as Comair are focused on commercial mandates, while SOEs such as SAA are focused on non-commercial mandates based on political and patronage networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides evidence on the effects of US and Chinese trade policies on the 2020 US presidential election. In response to a series of US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, China imposed retaliatory tariffs, especially on US agricultural products, which largely affected Republican‐leaning counties. The US government then subsidized US farmers by providing direct payments through the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to mitigate the Chinese retaliatory tariffs. Using the universe of actual county‐level MFP disbursement data, we document that MFP payments relative to the Chinese retaliatory tariff exposure were higher in solidly Republican counties, implying that the Trump administration allocated rents in exchange for political patronage. We also find that MFP payments outweighed the estimated impact of Chinese retaliatory tariffs and led to an increase in the Republican vote share in the 2020 presidential election. Finally, we uncover evidence that China's retaliatory trade policy and the corresponding US agricultural policy exacerbated political polarization in the US, especially the rural–urban divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the life and political career of Isaiah D. Clawson, a physician and politician from Salem County during the antebellum era. Topics include his shifts in political affiliation, including his association with the Whig, American (Know-Nothing), and Republican Parties, as well as his strategies to gain and retain political support amidst changing political dynamics.

Malaysia's 15th general election (GE15) in November 2022 took place on the back of a tumultuous period in which the country experienced government alternation several times at federal and state levels from 2018. This article primarily addresses whether incumbency advantages were prevalent, and if so, how and when? Based on interviews and documentary data, the article concludes that, especially in a post-pandemic setting, incumbency mattered. However, Barisan Nasional (BN) experienced a form of 'unrealised incumbency'. Without institutional reforms, trends in GE15 indicate that patronage and dependence on politicians for welfare gains seem to be a mainstay of Malaysian politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the resurgence of regional coalitions in Sarawak and Sabah following the 14th and 15th General Elections, respectively. It shows how federal-level government changes in Malaysia can result in the realignment of regional parties in Sarawak and Sabah, which had significantly shaped Malaysia's political landscape as BN's frontline states. The resurgence of the regional coalitions, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), demonstrates not only the fragmentation of national politics and the rise of regionalism but also the ease with which regional parties dominated by strongmen and aided by patronage can realign, enter and exit coalitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective democratic governance rests on the executive's ability to forge coalitions that can advance policy and sustain the government against challengers. Scholars have long focused on cabinet appointments to understand how executives build coalitions with their legislative allies. In many democracies, however, cabinet appointments at the ministerial level may only represent the tip of the iceberg. We show that administrative political appointees (APAs) beneath the ministerial level constitute one of the most important ways that cooperation between legislative and executive is forged. Leveraging a unique and comprehensive database of an average 2600 Brazilian APAs per year over two decades, we evaluate their effect on coalition unity in critical legislative votes. We demonstrate that these APAs, which we collectively term the "patronage coalition," have a significant effect on legislative support and thus are a critical tool for presidents. Our results are particularly relevant to a new emphasis in the political science literature on the "toolbox" that presidents utilize to address the challenges of simultaneously maintaining legislative support while implementing policy. These results demonstrate that the patronage coalition is a fundamental tool that should be more widely integrated into models of legislative-executive bargaining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Secondary School Leaving Examination, which is administered at the completion of grade 12 is the only criterion that determines admittance of students into the University. Students from Amhara Region; who have been under pressure of the Northern Ethiopian Armed Conflict, have scored unusual low entry marks which have yet given acceptable reply. This article aimed at exploring the nature of appeal system in Ethiopia, the issues of accountability and legitimacy of the Ministry of Education. Situational analysis of qualitative research approach is employed in this study. The study found out that there is no clear and trusted appeal system which inclusively and effectively provides response to the complaints. Besides, the ethnic politics of the country sadly spoils the education system and not everyone stands for the right of students, but only those who do have ethnic affiliations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B HOLLYWOOD COULD NOT WRITE A BETTER SCRIPT b than the real-life story of Bertha Duppler Baur. During her career at the post office, Bertha found time to ride a bicycle, considered a very progressive act for a woman at that time, and teach Sunday School at St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church.[29] She raised money for cancer treatment by giving a speech on a table in the "pit" of the Board of Trade.[30] Later in life, she used her connections in politics and business, as well as her social circle, which included some of the wealthiest Chicagoans, to raise money for a variety of causes, including the Republican National Committee.[31] Bertha also made time to attend Chicago Kent College of Law at night. Bertha's mother Mary died when she was just six years old, leaving her father with four children, two boys and two girls, with Bertha being the youngest. [Extracted from the article]

This paper discusses the tendency of new voters to vote for the first time in the 15th General Election (GE15). Based on the statistics released by the Election Commission (SPR), the number of new voters who voted for the first time is around 6.2 million, of which 1.3 million are between 18 and 20 years old. Since they are a group of first-time voters, the tendency of their political support could be unclearer. Many parties wonder where their political support is headed, especially in the manycornered competition involving extensive political cooperation such as Perikatan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional, and Gerakan Tanah Air. Accordingly, this paper aims to examine the tendency of new voters during the last GE15 campaign period through an online survey. The survey was conducted openly with the target of eligible voters, and 1438 respondents have given feedback. The study results show that 91 percent of the total number of respondents will go out to vote, and they tend to choose elected representatives who have integrity and are free of corruption, do not break promises, and are highly educated. Most of the group of respondents also tend to support national political trends. From that, new voters who vote for the first time have a good intensity of political literacy. Therefore, they become the determinants of changes in the current political support unrelated to political patronage elements like previous generations. They can also be catalysts for change in society in general and the country's leadership in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]