Clientelism within Arabian Gulf States and Beyond: A Comparative Study

ABSTRACT: Clientelism is a widespread phenomenon, often resulting from preexisting socioeconomic conditions such as inequalities, government dominance over the economy, and deficiencies in political institutions. State formation ushered vote buying into clientelistic behaviour and reinforced brokerage systems. This work synthesises the existing literature to examine theoretical aspects of clientelism and its applications in four regions, while providing comparative frameworks. A key conclusion is that each individual country exhibits distinct clientelistic, brokerage and vote buying behaviour, yet stays within fundamental parameters of the phenomenon.

KEYWORDS: Clientelism, Vote Buying, Brokerage, Political Economy, Welfare State GCC, Arabian Gulf, Argentina, Taiwan, Benin