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Neopatrimonialism is a system of social hierarchy where
patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
s use
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
resources Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their av ...
to secure the loyalty of clients in the general population. It is an informal patron–client relationship that can reach from very high up in state structures down to individuals in small villages. Neopatrimonialism may underlie or supplant the
bureaucratic The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
structure of the state in that only those with connections have the real power, not those who hold higher positions. Further criticisms include that it undermines political institutions and the rule of law, and is a
corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
(but not always illegal) practice. Neopatrimonialism also has its benefits, however. Neopatrimonialism can extend the reach of the state into the geographical and social peripheries of the country, provide short term stability, and facilitate communal integration. Neo-patrimonialism, as defined by author Christopher Clapham of ''The Nature of the Third World State'', is a "...form of organisation in which relationships of a broadly patrimonial type pervade a political and administrative system which is formally constructed on rational-legal lines." It is a system in which an office of power is used for personal uses and gains, as opposed to a strict division of the private and public spheres.


Origin and definition of the term

"Neopatrimonialism" as a distinct term is generally held to have originated with Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, in his 1973 book ''Traditional Patrimonialism and Modern Neopatrimonialism'', deriving it from
Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...
's term, '
patrimonialism Patrimonialism is a form of governance in which all power flows directly from the ruler. There is no distinction between the public and private domains. These regimes are autocratic or oligarchic and exclude the lower, middle and upper classes ...
', who used the term to describe a system of rule based on administrative and military personnel, who were responsible only to the ruler. Neopatrimonialism, which is a modern form of the traditional Patrimonial form of rule, is a mixed system. Here elements of patrimonial and rational-bureaucratic rule co-exist and are sometimes interwoven.


Application and criticism

Neopatrimonialism is sometimes used as a way of explaining why African states have supposedly failed to effect neoliberal market reforms. This focus is controversial, with some complaining that the term is vague, and others that its use has failed to take into account the politics of non-African states. For example, in 1998
Thandika Mkandawire Thandika Mkandawire (10 October 1940 – 27 March 2020) was a Malawian economist and public intellectual who was a Chair of African Development and professor of African Development at the London School of Economics. He is a widely published schol ...
said,
Another problem is that "neo-patrimonial" states in and outside Africa have pursued a wide range of policies including some that are squarely developmental. In other words, other than indicating the style of governance, neo-patrimonialism does not tell us much about what policies a state will pursue and with what success. In the African case "neo-patrimonialism" has been used to explain
import substitution Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production.''A Comprehensive Dictionary of Economics'' p.88, ed. Nelson Brian 2009. It is based on the premise tha ...
, export orientation,
parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...
s, privatization, the
informal sector An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countrie ...
development, etc. The result is that, in seeking to explain everything, it explains nothing except perhaps that
capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
relations in their idealized form are not pervasive in Africa.
Others have argued that the concept is valid and needs refinement. For example, a paper in 2004 identified political difficulties in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
as having their origins in the neopatrimonial system that had evolved there.


In Africa

Being the vertical distribution of resources that give rise to patron-client networks based around a powerful individual or party, neopatrimonialism was once argued as necessary for unification and development after decolonization. Though neopatrimonialism seems like a form of corruption through coercion, it is not regarded as corrupt behavior by most countries where neopatrimonialism is present. Neopatrimonialism is not seen as a synonym for corruption, but a distinct form of acquiring legitimacy and of dealing with difficulties in statecraft specific to Africa deeply rooted from pre-colonial times. For the weak state institutions left behind from colonial rule to gain
legitimacy Legitimacy, from the Latin ''legitimare'' meaning "to make lawful", may refer to: * Legitimacy (criminal law) * Legitimacy (family law) * Legitimacy (political) See also * Bastard (law of England and Wales) * Illegitimacy in fiction * Legit (d ...
from the population being ruled, state leaders are left to either gain legitimacy through force or by paying off people and giving government positions in exchange for support of the ruling leader. Neopatrimonialism is the latter and was seen by governments attempting to gain legitimacy as a less violent and brutal way to rule, though often unstable. Nicolas Van de Walle argues that neopatrimonialism is very prevalent in Africa since the departure of colonialism. African regimes are presidential, which facilitates clientelism since power is concentrated in a single individual with ultimate control of networks. As Joel Migdal puts it, the state in African countries seems omnipresent in all aspects of people's lives, from the very local to the central government levels. Van de Walle introduces the notion that in Africa, states are
hybrid regime A hybrid regime is a mixed type of political system often created as a result of an incomplete transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one (or vice versa). Hybrid regimes are categorized as combine autocratic features with de ...
s where patrimonial practices and bureaucracies coexist to a higher or lesser degree. African states have laws and constitutional order and in parallel are ruled by patrimonial logic in which political authority is based on clientelism and office holders constantly appropriate public resources for their own benefit. The dual nature of African regimes means that clientelism is not incidental and cannot be easily corrected with capacity building policies and at the same time formal structures play an important role, even in the least-institutionalized states. During the African Debit Crisis, neopatrimonialism showed various signs of weakness. As African countries accumulated massive amounts of debt caused by global recession and inflation from the OPEC oil embargo, the neopatrimonialist links that helped solidify legitimacy for regimes began to weaken. African countries had relied so heavily on foreign aid and loans as source of government income that when these resources dried up, regimes could no longer pay off the people they been paying or provide government jobs for those they had because regimes did not have the money to do so. This led to a lack of legitimacy in many countries resulting in rebellion. In a 1994 study, Michael Bratton and Nicolas Van de Walle argue that the prevalence of neopatrimonial regimes in Africa explains why many African states have not successfully democratized. To be democratized, one of the key components needed is a change in political culture. Defined as the shared political ideas, attitudes, and beliefs that underlie a society, political culture in neopatrimonial regime is one where people see the government as their provider for goods and without the government providing, the government has of little use to the people. There is no shared political ideology in most of these countries let alone stable enough economies. Thus, democratic political systems never can get a foot hold in a lot of African countries where the system is so embedded in neopatrimonialism. Often, the only way to break free of this system is through a rebellion or
military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
. According to Van de Walle, one of the main issues with neopatrionialism is that it undermines economic reform in contemporary Africa on multiple levels. Christian von Soest follows that, in African states, this informal political system of the rulers infringes on the collection of taxes and causes a reduction in state revenues. Joel Migdal points out that state leaders will fragment power and use different techniques to prevent reform and policy from being implemented in local branches and institutions, as a way to avoid important local agencies to mobilize against the central power. The main goal of central leaders is to avoid losing power and control, even if that means stalling policy implementation.


See also

*
Patronage in ancient Rome Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
*
Political machine In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
* Politics of the Belly *
Prebendalism Prebendalism refers to political systems in which elected officials and government workers feel they have a right to a share of government revenues, and they use them to benefit supporters, co-religionists and members of their ethnic group. Origi ...
*
Authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voti ...
*
Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
*
Democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...


References

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Further reading

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Patrick Chabal Patrick Chabal (29 April 1951 – 16 January 2014) was a leading Africanist of the late 20th and early 21st century. He had a long career in academics. Patrick Chabal's latest position was Chair in African History & Politics at King's College Lon ...
and Jean-Pascal Daloz: Africa Works: disorder as political instrument (Oxford, Currey, 1999) Political theories Corruption