Dependency politics : how foreign aid shapes electoral behavior / Ryan Jablonski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jablonski, Ryan, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Developing countries.

Democracy.

Economic assistance--Political aspects--Developing countries.

Economic assistance.

Elections--Developing countries.

Elections.

Political participation--Developing countries.

Political participation.

Liability (Law)--Political aspects--Developing countries.

Liability (Law).

Political planning--Developing countries.

Political planning.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 210 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

Ryan Jablonski's Dependency Politics examines how democracy works in aid-dependent countries. He draws on over six years of fieldwork to investigate relationships between donors and politicians, showing how politicians make policy and how aid dependency changes voters' assessments of politician performance. He reveals that voters don't simply reward politicians for aid, rather they condition their votes on beliefs about how politicians influence aid delivery. This leads to a 'visibility-uncertainty' paradox where aid can either enhance or erode democratic accountability. Revisiting assumptions about the effects of foreign aid on political behavior, he also explains how aid can cause citizens to vote against their interests and sometimes benefit opposition candidates over incumbents. Drawing on surveys, interviews, focus groups, and field experiments, Jablonski challenges conventional wisdom about foreign aid and offers lessons for balancing trade-offs over aid effectiveness, political capture and capacity-building. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Contents:

1 Introduction

2 Understanding relations between politician and donors

3 A theory of foreign aid and elections

4 The electoral politics of aid distribution

5 The effects of aid on voter behavior

6 The effects of aid on politician spending behavior

7 Conclusion: Understanding democracy in aid-dependent countries

Appendices.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 31 Jul 2026).

ISBN:

1-009-78912-0

Access Restriction:

Open Access. Unrestricted online access