Who receives clientelistic benefits? Social identity, relative deprivation, and clientelistic acceptance among Turkish voters

Bibliographic Data

ID12697199
AuthorsKerem Yıldırım (0000-0002-2421-9109, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume24
Issue2
Pages231-257
Publication date2022-10-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTurkish Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-3849 • E-ISSN: 1743-9663
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14683849.2022.2126935
OpenAlexW4304099153
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited59

Why do voters accept clientelism? Previous research suggests that poorer voters are more likely to accept clientelistic benefits. However, identities may moderate the effect of poverty through identity-based economic comparisons across groups. The role identity plays in partisanship, and dense ethnic identity networks may make it easier for parties to enforce clientelism among specific groups. This paper presents evidence from a survey experiment in Turkey to argue that politicized Kurdish ethnic identity, combined with heightened perceptions of relative economic deprivation, explains why certain voter groups are more likely to accept clientelism. Additionally, experimental evidence shows that support for clientelism may depend on the quality of benefits rather than quantity. Focusing only on the amount of resources or the recipients’ economic conditions may fail to explain why certain voters accept clientelism more in the Turkish context

Clientelism · Context (archaeology · Economics · Ethnic group · Geography · Identity (music · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Survey data collection · Turkish · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Society in Latin America

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