Clientelistic Partisan Linkage in Latin America, 2009–23: Evidence from DALP II

• In Event: Political Partisan Linkages in Competitive Party Systems: DALP II 2022-24 Survey

Abstract

Over the past decade, several Latin American party systems have undergone significant transformation, including varying processes of dealignment, political polarization, and linkage decay. This paper explores current party linkage configurations against this changing backdrop, highlighting the role of clientelistic exchange and its interaction with other linkage mechanisms. Relying on the results of the 2022-3 Democratic Accountability and Linkage Project II (DALP II) and comparisons with the DALP I dataset (2008-9), we report on key attributes of party linkage mechanisms in Latin America and assess their evolution over time. We first analyze parties’ organizational structures (their geographical extensiveness and local embeddedness) and their mobilization efforts (the degree of centralization in intra-party nomination and control over financial resources). Next, we study the “currencies” of clientelistic transactions (the type of discretionary inducements), their delivery mechanisms (the role of brokers and their relationship with parties), the conditionality of clientelistic exchanges (the incidence of voters’ monitoring), the types of targeted electoral groups and the degree of electoral effectiveness of clientelistic efforts. Along these central dimensions, we aim to identify emerging regional patterns and the range of variation among party systems. Finally, we provide an initial exploration of the relationship between parties’ organizational structures and differing clientelistic linkage mechanisms across the region.

Authors

• Melina Altamirano, El Colegio de México

• Juan Cruz Olmeda, El Colegio de México