Forschungsprojekt des FSP 1: Persistenz und Wandel von Neopatrimonialismus in verschiedenen Nicht-OECD-Regionen

Abstracts:

Bechle, Karsten. 2009. Out of Africa. Applying Neopatrimonialism to Latin America

Abstract:

The concept of neopatrimonialism refers to a hybrid form of domination in which rational-legal authority coexists with patrimonialism, a subtype of traditional authority in the terminology of Max Weber. While broadly applied to Africa, this concept has received only scant attention from scholars working on Latin America so far. Instead, a number of other and seemingly more home-grown concepts such as caudillismo, caciquismo, clientelism, or populism are used to account for the shortcomings of Latin American political regimes. These terms, however, are generally more narrowly defined than neopatrimonialism, which can be characterized by a combination of three informal institutions: (1) the concentration of power, (2) the award of personal favours, and (3) the misuse of state resources. This paper will discuss a number of concepts generally applied to Latin America in line with these three dimensions of neopatrimonialism in order to analyze how they relate to each other and how the former can be accommodated under the latter. It will be argued that resorting to neopatrimonialism thus operationalized provides scholars of Latin American politics with additional advantages over the other concepts. It may not only contribute to overcoming some frequent shortcomings in comparative analysis such as “parochialism” or “conceptual stretching” but also help to better understand the persistence of democratic deficits in Latin American political regimes over time. Due to its more encompassing character, neopatrimonialism is better suited to deal with countervailing tendencies that might stem from different developments within the three dimensions mentioned above. Since developments within these informal institutions need not at all times point into the same direction, divergent movements among them might easily be overlooked by approaches confined to only one of them. The reduction of clientelist practices through structural adjustment programs might, for example, be offset by an outburst of corruption at the time of privatizing state-owned enterprises. Or the weakening of traditionally dominant clientelist parties might be the consequence of a concentration of power within the hands of a strong charismatic leader from outside the political establishment.

Keywords: Neopatrimonialism, Concept, Latin America

Korte, Nina. 2009. Describing Governance Structures in the Philippines – The Concept of Neopatrimonialism

Abstract:

A comparison between the state of the Philippines before democratisation and now, more than twenty years after democratisation, leads to the conclusion that formal institutions have experienced a change, but the informal institutions, procedures and patters that have governed the Philippine state for so many decades are exhibiting great vigorousness and persistence. Paul Hutchcroft thus described the Philippine state as a patrimonial oligarchic state, John Sidel argued that the prevailing feature of the Philippines is bossism, other scholars see clientelism, patronage, corruption and collusion as the main features characterising the Philippine state. This paper agrees with these descriptions, does however propose to use a different concept to describe the governance structures in the Philippines, the concept of neopatrimonialism. The paper argues that the application of the concept of neopatrimonialism presents several advantages to the aforementioned concepts, which might help in better understanding the exercise of authority encountered both in the Philippines, numerous other Non-OECD and possibly some OECD countries, advantages which might help in comparing and in analysing differences across countries and time.

Keywords: Neopatrimonialism, Informal Institutions, Philippines

Korte, Nina. 2009. Does Neopatrimonialism hinder Reform? – Tax Administration in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Abstract

Following democratisation good governance reforms have been a major concern of politicians, administrators, civil society, international donor organisations as well as ordinary citizens in the Philippines and Indonesia. With regard to the significance of state finances, tax administration reforms ever since have formed a vital part in both the national and international efforts to transform the former authoritarian states into flourishing democracies. While the importance of eligible, efficient and accountable tax administrations cannot be over-emphasized, the Philippines more than Indonesia appears to be facing difficulties in realizing the tax administration reform agenda. As both countries share a largely similar background, factors constraining reform have to be carefully identified and analysed. Some scholars argue that neopatrimonial manifestations play a critical part in the implementation of reforms, stating that the deeply embedded patrimonial logic of relationships may intersect with the “modern” legal-rational logic of the state, hindering the implementation of good governance reforms. This paper takes these reflections as the starting point for identifying neopatrimonial manifestations and developments within the Philippine and Indonesian government and assessing the impact on tax administration performance and reforms.

Keywords: Neopatrimonialism, Tax Administration, Philippines, Indonesia

von Soest, Christian. 2009. Informal Institutions Compared – Persistence and Change of Neopatrimonialism in Various World Regions.

Abstract

Neopatrimonialism is a prominent concept which tries to make sense of governance in various non-OECD regions. An attempt is made to grasp informal institutions which are functioning next to or are fused with the codified formal rules of the bureaucratic state. The research project investigates the neopatrimonialism concept’s analytical value for comparing informal institutions in different world regions – Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. It applies three main dimensions of neopatrimonial rule: 1) power concentration in the hands of patrons, 2) provision of personal favors, and 3) particularistic use of state resources. Secondly, it takes a closer look at the factors influencing persistence and change of neopatrimonialism. Political economy concepts indicate that high rents from enclave economies such as mining or oil extraction are responsible for thriving neopatrimonial relations. I present first results from original field research in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia (Zambia and Kenya, Venezuela and Argentina, Indonesia and the Philippines) conducted in the first half of 2009.

Keywords: Neopatrimonialism, Informal Institutions, Comparison

von Soest, Christian. 2009. Comparing Neopatrimonialism: First Empirical Results from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia and Implications for the Concept.

Abstract

The paper introduces the main facets of the research project “persistence and change of neopatrimonialism in various non-OECD-regions”. Neopatrimonialism is a prominent concept trying to make sense of governance in various, particularly non-OECD, regions. An attempt is made to grasp informal institutions which are functioning next to or are fused with the codified and sanctioned formal rules of the bureaucratic state authority. The paper presents the three main dimensions of neopatrimonial rule: 1) power concentration in the hands of patrons, 2) provision of personal favours, and 3) particularistic use of state resources and investigates its analytical value for comparing different world regions – Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Secondly, the paper takes a closer look at the factors influencing persistence and change of neopatrimonialism. Political economy concepts indicate that high rents from enclave economies such as mining or oil extraction are responsible for thriving neopatrimonial relations. It presents first results from original field research in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia (Zambia and Kenya, Venezuela and Argentina, Indonesia and the Philippines) conducted in the first half of 2009.
Based on these results, tentative assessments on the neopatrimonialism concept and its applicability for comparing informal institutions in different world regions are drawn.

Keywords: Neopatrimonialism, Informal Institutions, Comparison