IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/indpol/v6y2018i2p247-266.html

Concentric Clientelism: A Case Study of Rural Saharanpur

Author

Listed:
  • Rajkamal Singh
  • Rahul Hemrajani

Abstract

In this article, we examine the role of intermediaries in sustaining political clientelism in rural Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Drawing from fieldwork and electoral data, we show that clientelism in Saharanpur is based around providing three specific guarantees to the voter—security from or by the police, facilitation in the tehsil and mediation in cases that would otherwise go to court—which we collectively refer to as guardianship. We explain how guardianship, more than most other forms of clientelistic exchange, requires intermediaries. In the case of Saharanpur, these intermediaries are usually individuals occupying formal positions of power within various circles of Panchayati Raj Institutions. Finally, we argue that it is the concentric nature of constituencies provided by the decentralized political structure which is ultimately responsible for the sustenance of intermediary networks as well as the perpetuation of clientelism in rural Saharanpur.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajkamal Singh & Rahul Hemrajani, 2018. "Concentric Clientelism: A Case Study of Rural Saharanpur," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 6(2), pages 247-266, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indpol:v:6:y:2018:i:2:p:247-266
    DOI: 10.1177/2321023018797482
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2321023018797482
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2321023018797482?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Auerbach, Adam Michael & Thachil, Tariq, 2018. "How Clients Select Brokers: Competition and Choice in India's Slums," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(4), pages 775-791, November.
    2. repec:cup:apsrev:v:66:y:1972:i:01:p:91-113_13 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bardhan, Pranab, 2022. "Clientelism and governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Han Il Chang, 2021. "A side effect of a broker's expertise in clientelism: A lab‐experimental study," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 393-410, July.
    3. YuJung Julia Lee & Tiffany Radcliff, 2021. "Community interactions and sanitation use by the urban poor: Survey evidence from India’s slums," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(4), pages 715-732, March.
    4. Auerbach, Adam Michael & Thachil, Tariq, 2021. "How does Covid-19 affect urban slums? Evidence from settlement leaders in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    5. repec:osf:osfxxx:nsyc3_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Paniagua, Victoria, 2022. "When clients vote for brokers: How elections improve public goods provision in urban slums," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    7. Soumyanetra Munshi, 2022. "Clientelism or public goods: dilemma in a ‘divided democracy’," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 483-506, December.
    8. Sergiu Gherghina & Clara Volintiru, 2023. "Budgetary Clientelism and Decentralization in Hungary and Romania," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 39(1), pages 40-62, March.
    9. Ayumu TANAKA & Banri ITO & Naoto JINJI, 2022. "Individual Preferences Toward Inward Foreign Direct Investment: A Conjoint Survey Experiment," Discussion papers 22005, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    10. Charles Crabtree & John B. Holbein & J. Quin Monson, 2022. "Patient traits shape health-care stakeholders’ choices on how to best allocate life-saving care," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 244-257, February.
    11. Nunnari, Salvatore & Nichter, Simeon, 2019. "Declared Support and Clientelism," CEPR Discussion Papers 13460, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    12. Grossman, Shelby & C. Holland, Alisha, 2023. "The collusion trap: Theory with evidence from informal markets in Lagos, Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    13. Hofer, Katrin & Wicki, Michael & Kaufmann, David, 2024. "Public support for participation in local development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    14. Rajeshwari Deshpande & Louise Tillin & K.K. Kailash, 2019. "The BJP’s Welfare Schemes: Did They Make a Difference in the 2019 Elections?," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 7(2), pages 219-233, December.
    15. Anuradha Joshi & Colin Anderson & Katrina Barnes & Egidio Chaimite & Miguel Loureiro & Alex Shankland, 2024. "Local governance networks as public authority: Insights from Mozambique, Myanmar and Pakistan," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(S4), pages 48-59, July.
    16. Troncone, Massimo & Valli, Roberto, 2024. "Who Pays for the Church? Political Connections and Religious Clientelism in Post-War Italy," OSF Preprints nsyc3, Center for Open Science.
    17. Pradeep Chhibber, 2024. "Middle-class Populism: Political Inequalities and Populist Appeal in India," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 12(2), pages 208-227, December.
    18. Simon Hix & Clifton van der Linden & Joanna Massie & Mark Pickup & Justin Savoie, 2023. "Where is the EU–UK relationship heading? A conjoint survey experiment of Brexit trade-offs," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(1), pages 184-205, March.
    19. Garay, Candelaria & Palmer-Rubin, Brian & Poertner, Mathias, 2020. "Organizational and partisan brokerage of social benefits: Social policy linkages in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    20. Jöst, Prisca & Lust, Ellen, 2022. "Receiving more, expecting less? Social ties, clientelism and the poor’s expectations of future service provision," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    21. Karen Coelho & Ashima Sood, 2022. "Urban studies in India across the millennial turn: Histories and futures," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(13), pages 2613-2637, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:indpol:v:6:y:2018:i:2:p:247-266. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.