States are often minimally present in the rural periphery. Yet a limited presence does not
mean a limited impact. Isolated state actions in regions where the state is otherwise scarce …

Vote-buying—or the pre-electoral distribution of private goods in exchange for support at the
ballot box—is often blamed for the poor economic performance of many developing …

As in other African countries, activists in Uganda play an important role during political
campaigns. Monetary handouts, called 'transport refund', often facilitate their participation …

This study focusing on Zimbabwe examines how and why traditional leaders manipulate
and coerce the vulnerable community members to vote in a particular way. As of today, there …

Campaign rallies serve as arenas of political communication where candidates present their
campaign messages face-to-face in order to gain votes. This article suggests that rallies are …

Recruiting a large number of ground workers is crucial for running effective modern election
campaigns. It is unclear if party leaders can influence the quality and quantity of the unpaid …

This Element presents newly-collected cross-national data on reelection rates of lower
house national legislators from almost 100 democracies around the world. Reelection rates …

Local politicians can function as crucial intermediaries between voters and party bosses in a
clientelistic network. We study their role by matching data on 300 million welfare payments …

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 …

Despite a growing interest, African political parties have received relatively little attention
beyond their role as providers of clientelistic goods and services. Yet, they also regularly …