Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-21T07:03:26.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Buying Brokers

Electoral Handouts beyond Clientelism in a Weak-Party State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2022

Allen Hicken ,
Edward Aspinall ,
Meredith L. Weiss  and
Burhanuddin Muhtadi
Allen Hicken*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Edward Aspinall
Affiliation:
Department of Political and Social Change, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Meredith L. Weiss
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York, USA
Burhanuddin Muhtadi
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: ahicken@umich.edu
Get access

Abstract

Studies of electoral clientelism—the contingent exchange of material benefits for electoral support—frequently presume the presence of strong parties. Parties facilitate monitoring and enforcement of vote buying and allow brokers to identify core voters for turnout buying. Where money fuels campaigns but elections center around candidates, not parties, how do candidates pitch electoral handouts? The authors analyze candidates’ distribution of cash during an Indonesian election. Drawing upon varied data, including surveys of voters and brokers, candidates’ cash-distribution lists, and focus-group discussions, they find heavy spending but little evidence of vote buying or turnout buying. Instead, candidates buy brokers. With little loyalty or party brand to draw on, candidates seek to establish credibility with well-networked brokers, who then protect their turf with token payments for their own presumed bloc of voters. The authors find little evidence of monitoring of either voter or broker behavior, which is consistent with their argument that these payments are noncontingent.

Keywords

brokersclientelismelectionsIndonesiamoney politicspatronagevote buying
Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 77 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 Trustees of Princeton University

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, Nathan Wallace. 2012. “Diversity, Patronage and Parties: Parties and Party System Change in Indonesia.” Ph.D. diss., University of British Columbia. At https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0073455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, Edward. 2014a. “Parliament and Patronage.” Journal of Democracy 25, no. 4: 96–110. At https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2014.0070.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, Edward. 2014b. “When Brokers Betray: Clientelism, Social Networks, and Electoral Politics in Indonesia.” Critical Asian Studies 46, no. 4: 545–70. At https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2014.960706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, Edward. 2019. “Lessons from a Neighbor: The Negative Consequences of Indonesia's Shift to the Open List.” In Hutchcroft, Paul D., ed., Strong Patronage, Weak Parties: The Case for Electoral Redesign in the Philippines. Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Anvil.Google Scholar
Aspinall, Edward, and Berenschot, Ward. 2019. Democracy for Sale: Elections, Clientelism and the State in Indonesia. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, Edward, and Hicken, Allen. 2020. “Guns for Hire and Enduring Machines: Clientelism beyond Parties in Indonesia and the Philippines.” Democratization 27, no. 1: 137–56. At https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2019.1590816.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, Edward, Rohman, Noor, Hamdi, Ahmad Zainul, Rubaidi, and Zusiana Elly Triantini, . 2017. “Vote Buying in Indonesia: Candidate Strategies, Market Logic and Effectiveness.” Journal of East Asian Studies 17, no. 1: 1–27. At https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2016.31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aspinall, Edward, and Sukmajati, Mada, eds. 2016. Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots. Singapore: NUS Press.Google Scholar
Aspinall, Edward, Weiss, Meredith L., Hicken, Allen, and Hutchcroft, Paul D.. Forthcoming. Mobilizing for Elections: Patronage and Political Machines in Southeast Asia. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Auerbach, Adam. 2016. “Clients and Communities: The Political Economy of Party Network Organization and Development in India's Urban Slums.” World Politics 68, no. 1 (January): 111–48. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887115000313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Auerbach, Adam, and Thachil, Tariq. 2018. “How Clients Select Brokers: Competition and Choice in India's Slums.” America Political Science Review 112, no. 4: 775–91. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S000305541800028X.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brierley, Sarah, and Nathan, Noah L.. 2021. “The Connections of Party Brokers: Which Brokers Do Parties Select?” Journal of Politics 83, no. 3. At https://doi.org/10.1086/710783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brusco, Valeria, Nazareno, Marcelo, and Stokes, Susan C.. 2004. “Vote Buying in Argentina.” Latin American Research Review 39, no. 2: 66–88. At https://doi.org/10.1353/lar.2004.0022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callahan, William A., and McCargo, Duncan. 1995. “Vote-Buying in Thailand's Northeast: The July 1995 General Election.” Asian Survey 36, no. 4: 376–92. At https://doi.org/10.2307/2645405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, Ernesto, and Murillo, Maria Victoria. 2004. “Who Delivers? Partisan Clients in the Argentine Electoral Market.” American Journal of Political Science 48, no. 4: 742–57. At https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00099.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, Ernesto, and Murillo, Maria Victoria. 2013. “When Parties Meet Voters: Assessing Political Linkages through Partisan Networks and Distributive Expectations in Argentina and Chile.” Comparative Political Studies 46, no. 7: 851–82. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414012463882.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camp, Edwin. 2017. “Cultivating Effective Brokers: A Party Leader's Dilemma.” British Journal of Political Science 47, no. 3: 521–43. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123415000411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chattharakul, Anyarat. 2010. “Thai Electoral Campaigning: Vote-Canvassing Networks and Hybrid Voting.” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 29, no. 4: 67–95. At https://doi.org/10.1177/186810341002900404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corstange, Daniel. 2009. “Sensitive Questions, Truthful Answers? Modeling the List Experiment with LISTIT.” Political Analysis 17, no. 1: 45–63. At https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpn013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz-Cayeros, Alberto, Estévez, Federico, and Magaloni, Beatriz. 2016. The Political Logic of Poverty Relief: Electoral Strategies and Social Policy in Mexico. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunning, Thad, and Stokes, Susan. 2007. “Persuasion vs. Mobilization.” Paper presented at Conference on Elections and Distribution, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., October 25–26.Google Scholar
Finan, Frederico, and Schechter, Laura. 2012. “Vote-Buying and Reciprocity.” Econometrica 80, no. 2: 863–81. At https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA9035.Google Scholar
Fossati, Diego, Aspinall, Edward, Muhtadi, Burhanuddin, and Warburton, Eve. 2020. “Ideological Representation in Clientelistic Democracies: The Indonesian Case.” Electoral Studies 63, February: 1–12. At https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2019.102111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallego, Jorge. 2015. “Self-Enforcing Clientelism.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 27, no. 3: 401–27. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0951629814533840.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez-Ocantos, Ezequiel, De Jonge, Chad Kiewiet, Meléndez, Carlos, Osorio, Javier, and Nickerson, David W.. 2012. “Vote Buying and Social Desirability Bias: Experimental Evidence from Nicaragua.” American Journal of Political Science 56, no. 1: 202–17. At https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00540.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadiz, Vedi. 2003. “Reorganizing Political Power in Indonesia: A Reconsideration of So-Called ‘Democratic Transitions.’” Pacific Review 16, no. 4: 591–611. At https://doi.org/10.1080/0951274032000132272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicken, Allen, Aspinall, Edward, and Weiss, Meredith L., eds. 2019. Electoral Dynamics in the Philippines: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots. Singapore: NUS Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicken, Allen, Aspinall, Edward, Weiss, Meredith L., and Muhtadi, Burhanuddin. 2021. “Replication data for: Buying Brokers: Electoral Handouts beyond Clientelism in a Weak-Party State.” Harvard Dataverse, V1. At https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/SCXPHI.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicken, Allen, Aspinall, Edward, Weiss, Meredith L., and Muhtadi, Burhanuddin. 2022. “Supplementary material for: Buying Brokers: Electoral Handouts beyond Clientelism in a Weak-Party State.” At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887121000216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicken, Allen, and Nathan, Noah L.. 2020. “Clientelism's Red Herrings: Dead Ends and New Directions in the Study of Non-Programmatic Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science 23: 277–94. At https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050718-032657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilgers, Tina. 2008. “Causes and Consequences of Political Clientelism: Mexico's PRD in Comparative Perspective.” Latin American Politics and Society 50, no. 4: 123–53. At https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2008.00032.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, Alisha C., and Palmer-Rubin, Brian. 2015. “Beyond the Machine: Clientelist Brokers and Interest Organizations in Latin America.” Comparative Political Studies 48, no. 9: 1186–1223. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414015574883.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, Herbert, and Wilkinson, Steven I.. 2007. “Citizen-Politician Linkages: An Introduction.” In Kitschelt, Herbert and Wilkinson, Steven I., eds., Patrons, Clients and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramon, Eric. 2016. “Electoral Handouts as Information: Explaining Unmonitored Vote Buying.” World Politics 68, no. 3 (July): 454–98. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887115000453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramon, Eric. 2017. Money for Votes: The Causes and Consequences of Electoral Clientelism in Africa. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Landé, Carl H. 1965. Leaders, Factions, and Parties: The Structure of Philippine Politics. Yale Southeast Asia Studies Monograph Series, no. 6. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies.Google Scholar
Larreguy, Horacio, Marshall, John, and Querebín, Pablo. 2016. “Parties, Brokers, and Voter Mobilization: How Turnout Buying Depends Upon the Party's Capacity to Monitor Brokers.” American Political Science Review 110, no. 1: 160–79. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055415000593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowi, Theodore J. 1967. “Machine Politics—Old and New.” Public Interest 9: 83–92. At https://www.nationalaffairs.com/public_interest/detail/machine-politics-old-and-new, accessed November 1, 2021.Google Scholar
Lussier, Danielle N., and Fish, M. Steven. 2012. “Indonesia: The Benefits of Civic Engagement.” Journal of Democracy 23, no. 1: 70–84. At https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2012.0017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magaloni, Beatriz. 2006. Voting for Autocracy: Hegemonic Party Survival and Its Demise in Mexico. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mares, Isabela, and Young, Lauren E.. 2018. “The Core Voter's Curse: Clientelistic Threats and Promises in Hungarian Elections.” Comparative Political Studies 51, no. 11: 1441–71. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414018758754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mietzner, Marcus. 2014. “How Jokowi Won and Democracy Survived.” Journal of Democracy 25, no. 4: 111–25. At https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2014.0073.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhtadi, Burhanuddin. 2015. “Money Politics and the Prisoner's Dilemma.” New Mandala, November 16. At https://www.newmandala.org/money-politics-and-the-prisoners-dilemma/, accessed November 1, 2021.Google Scholar
Muhtadi, Burhanuddin. 2018. “Buying Votes in Indonesia: Partisans, Personal Networks and Winning Margins.” Ph.D. diss., Australian National University. At https://doi.org/10.25911/5d67b7be9aa39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhtadi, Burhanuddin. 2019. Vote Buying in Indonesia: The Mechanics of Electoral Bribery. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muñoz, Paula. 2014. “An Informational Theory of Campaign Clientelism: The Case of Peru.” Comparative Politics 47, no. 1: 79–98. At https://doi.org/10.5129/001041514813623155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muñoz, Paula. 2019. Buying Audiences: Clientelism and Electoral Campaigns When Parties Are Weak. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nichter, Simeon. 2008. “Vote Buying or Turnout Buying? Machine Politics and the Secret Ballot.” American Political Science Review 102, no. 1: 19–31. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055408080106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichter, Simeon, and Peress, Michael. 2017. “Request Fulfilling: When Citizens Demand Clientelist Benefits.” Comparative Political Studies 50, no. 8: 1086–1117. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414016666838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novaes, Lucas M. 2018. “Disloyal Brokers and Weak Parties.” American Journal of Political Science 62, no. 1: 84–98. At https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravanilla, Nico, Haim, Dotan, and Hicken, Allen. 2021. “Brokers, Social Networks, Reciprocity, and Clientelism.” American Journal of Political Science. At https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohman, Noor. 2016. “Pati, Central Java: Targets, Techniques and Meanings of Vote Buying.” In Aspinall, Edward and Sukmajati, Mada, eds., Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots. Singapore: NUS Press.Google Scholar
Schaffer, Frederic Charles, and Schedler, Andreas. 2007. “What Is Vote Buying?” In Schaffer, Frederic Charles, ed., Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Schaffer, Joby, and Baker, Andy. 2015. “Clientelism as Persuasion-Buying: Evidence from Latin America.” Comparative Political Studies 48, no. 9: 1093–1126. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414015574881.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Mark. 2019. “Do Local Leaders Know Their Voters? A Test of Guessability in India.” Electoral Studies 61: 1–12. At https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2019.102049.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, James C. 1969. “Corruption, Machine Politics, and Political Change.” American Political Science Review 63, no. 4: 1142–58. At https://doi.org/10.2307/1955076.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, James C. 1972. “The Erosion of Patron-Client Bonds and Social Change in Rural Southeast Asia.” Journal of Asian Studies 32, no. 1: 5–37. At https://doi.org/10.2307/2053176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah. 2019. Electoral Reform and the Fate of New Democracies: Lessons from the Indonesian Case. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slater, Dan. 2004. “Indonesia's Accountability Trap: Party Cartels and Presidential Power after Democratic Transition.” Indonesia, no. 78, 61–92. At https://www.jstor.org/stable/3351288.Google Scholar
Stokes, Susan C. 2005. “Perverse Accountability: A Formal Model of Machine Politics with Evidence from Argentina.” American Political Science Review 99, no. 3: 315–25. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055405051683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stokes, Susan C., Dunning, Thad, Nazareno, Marcelo, and Brusco, Valeria. 2013. Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szwarcberg, Mariela. 2012. “Uncertainty, Political Clientelism, and Voter Turnout in Latin America: Why Parties Conduct Rallies in Argentina.” Comparative Politics 45, no. 1: 88–106. At https://doi.org/10.5129/001041512802822851.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thachil, Tariq. 2011. “Embedded Mobilization: Nonstate Service Provision as Electoral Strategy in India.” World Politics 63, no. 3 (July): 434–69. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887111000116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triantini, Zusiana Elly. 2016. “Blora, Central Java: Local Brokers and Vote Buying.” In Aspinall, Edward and Sukmajati, Mada, eds., Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots. Singapore: NUS Press.Google Scholar
Wang, Chin-Shou, and Kurzman, Charles. 2007. “The Logistics: How to Buy Votes.” In Schaffer, Frederic Charles, ed., Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Hicken et al. Dataset

Dataset https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/SCXPHI
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Hicken et al. supplementary material

Hicken et al. supplementary material

Download Hicken et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 995.4 KB