Clientelism, capitalism, and democracy : the rise of programmatic politics in the United States and Britain / Didi Kuo, Stanford University.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuo, Didi, 1983- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Patronage, Political--United States.

Patronage, Political.

Patronage, Political--Great Britain.

Political planning--United States.

Political planning.

Political planning--Great Britain.

Business and politics--United States.

Business and politics.

Business and politics--Great Britain.

Capitalism--Political aspects--United States.

Capitalism.

Capitalism--Political aspects--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 285 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Summary:

Political parties in the United States and Britain used clientelism and patronage to govern throughout the nineteenth century. By the twentieth century, however, parties in both countries shifted to programmatic competition. This book argues that capitalists were critical to this shift. Businesses developed new forms of corporate management and capitalist organization, and found clientelism inimical to economic development. Drawing on extensive archival research in the United States and Britain, this book shows how national business organizations pushed parties to adopt programmatic reforms, including administrative capacities and policy-centered campaigns. Parties then shifted from reliance on clientelism as a governing strategy in elections, policy distribution, and bureaucracy. They built modern party organizations and techniques of interest mediation and accommodation. This book provides a novel theory of capitalist interests against clientelism, and argues for a more rigorous understanding of the relationship between capitalism and political development.

Contents:

Introduction

Capitalism, clientelism, and party organization

Capitalist interests and political development

Business demands against clientelism : the argument in brief

Clientelism as a failure of governance : a theory of business, parties, and programmatic demands

Clientelism : concepts and theories

Understanding programmatic politics

Capitalist demands for programmatic reforms

Empirical strategy

Clientelism as a governing strategy in the United States

Vote buying and clientelism in national elections

Clientelism in policy : patronage and the pork barrel

Patronage politics and the federal bureaucracy

Business organization and the push for programmatic parties

Party-business linkages before 1870

The establishment of national business organizations

The National Board of Trade, 1868-2013

Business organization and the legacy of the National Board of Trade

Business linkages to parties

Businesses, pluralism, and programmatic parties

Clientelism and governance in Britain, 1850-2013

Clientelism and vote buying in British elections

Clientelism and distributive policy in britain

Patronage in Britain

The emergence of programmatic parties, 1870-2013

Administrative reform and programmatic parties in Britain

Ties between parliament and business before 1870

Trade associations and political engagement

The Association of British Chambers of Commerce

Parties, administrative policy, and programmatic representation after 1880

Conclusion : capitalist interests, programmatic parties, and elusive reforms.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 31 Aug 2018).

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1-108-59537-5

1-108-67992-7

1-108-68672-9