Agents or Bosses?

Clientelism in public employment – the practice of offering jobs in return for political favours to a party or politician – is a problem from the perspectives of equality, democratic accountability and economic efficiency. Focusing on intra-party competition, this book presents an original explanation of why some politicians and parties engage more extensively in such practices than others. Examining Argentina and Turkey in a period of economic restructuring, the author argues that patronage jobs are distributed hierarchically to the politicians' circle. Consequently, the distribution of patronage is affected by competition for party leadership. Analysis of original statistical and case study data at the sub-national level confirms that clientelistic practices are influenced by party characteristics. Kemahlioğlu's research reveals a surprising and counterintuitive conclusion; that when party support is crucial to politicians' career progression and the leadership of the party is openly contested, the proliferation of clientelism is contained and controlled.