Runaway State-Building: Patronage Politics and Democratic Development

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JHU Press, Sep 14, 2006 - Business & Economics - 278 pages

Here, Conor O'Dwyer introduces the phenomenon of runaway state-building as a consequence of patronage politics in underdeveloped, noncompetitive party systems. Analyzing the cases of three newly democratized nations in Eastern Europe—Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia—O’Dwyer argues that competition among political parties constrains patronage-led state expansion.

O’Dwyer uses democratization as a starting point, examining its effects on other aspects of political development. Focusing on the link between electoral competition and state-building, he is able to draw parallels between the problems faced by these three nations and broader historical and contemporary problems of patronage politics—such as urban machines in nineteenth-century America and the Philippines after Marcos.

This timely study provides political scientists and political reformers with insights into points in the democratization process where appropriate intervention can minimize runaway state-building and cultivate efficient bureaucracy within a robust and competitive democratic system.

 

Contents

Introduction I
1
The Europeanization of the State
100
in Other New Democracies
170
Determinants and Separately By Region
176
Appendixes
207
Component Units of the NationalLevel State Administration
208
References
251
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Page 252 - Bukowski, A., 1996: Citizens' Committees in the Process of Formation of Local Power: A Polish Case Study. In: J. Gibson and P.

About the author (2006)

Conor O'Dwyer is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Florida.