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Political Participation -- II

Political Participation -- II. Patron-client relationships… Social capital and civil society…. Social capital and civil society:.

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Political Participation -- II

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  1. Political Participation -- II Patron-client relationships… Social capital and civil society…

  2. Social capital and civil society: • “Social capital refers to features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit” Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone” • Civil society: • sometimes used as a surrogate for society • Defined as a society capable ofself organization -- thus capable of organizing itself

  3. Where does social capital come from? • Wealth? • Education? • Organizations and situations which stimulate trust?

  4. Some questions: • Are social capital and civil society prerequisites of liberal democracy? • What kinds of participation generate social capital? • Direct face-to-face participation? • Participation in `credit card’ organizations? • Is social capital declining? (Robert Putnam’s argument in “Bowling Alone”)

  5. Patron-Client Relations • An exchange relationship in which participation in politics is mediated through one or more intermediaries or patrons (clientelism) • Clients, at the base, give support to patrons, in exchange for specific benefits, such as jobs, favours, preferential treatment • Lower-level patrons provide support to higher level patrons, in exchange for benefits or resources • Politicians and/or bureaucrats use their control of government to generate resources for intermediaries (patronage)

  6. Clientelistic relationships more likely to occur in: • Places or regions in which the population is dependent on government largesse for its economic survival (e.g peripheral or less developed regions) • Populations in larger systems unable to fend for themselves (e.g., peasants, immigrants) • Transitional or less developed societies • Countries in which complex regulations enable politicians and bureaucrats to generate patronage

  7. What difference does it make? • Impact of clientelism on political culture? • How well does clientelism mesh with • Ideological politics? • Post-materialism? • Are patron-client relationships compatible with a civil society? • Does clientelism develop or destroy social capital?

  8. Who gets what, when, and how?--Harold Lasswell • Do the phenomena of post-materialism and the `more the more’ hypothesis mean that the demands of the poor and the working classes are always neglected?

  9. Problem: • Do post-materialism and the `more the more’ hypothesis address the same question? • Does one tell you more about who participates and the other more about the values of those who participate? • What difference does post-materialism make? • Or can the power of numbers counter the advantages of access and skill?

  10. When do revolutions occur? • The ‘J-curve’ hypothesis: revolutions do not occur in abjectly poor societies, but rather in those in which there has been some improvement.

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