Patronage Relationships Research Articles

Identity Instrumentalized: Pattern Recognition as an Epistemology of Surveillance, 1960-66.

The emergence of new surveillance practices is not solely a matter of technological and political developments. It is also intertwined with the production of scientific knowledge. This article traces how scientists in the 1960s developed some of the earliest computerized facial recognition techniques while covertly sponsored by a U.S. intelligence agency. The article situates their project within approaches from the technical field of pattern recognition. It demonstrates how the scientists, especially amid unsteady patronage relationships, reinforced a key assumption: that recognizing identity could be reduced to classifying specific features within a set of existing examples. As their ambitions grew over six years, the scientists transformed human identity into a scientific object tailored to their recognition techniques. How this transformation occurred foregrounds the epistemic underpinnings of surveillance technologies.

Assembling Multi-Temporal Resilience on the Eastern Coast of India

ABSTRACT This article explores how the Sundarbans residents and migrants on the eastern coast of India build multitemporal resilience. While extreme weather events have different rhythms, local governance, including climate change mitigation policies and state initiatives to manage the aftermaths of extreme weather events, also create temporalities. We analyse how people assemble these temporalities in their quest for more secure livelihoods and housing. By examining two interrelated practices – waiting and establishing patronage relationships – we argue, first, that resilience is not built by isolated individuals or communities; instead, it is relational and multitemporal. Second, we contribute to the questioning of climate reductionism and climate reductionist understandings of resilience by showing that people not only build resilience to climate change impacts and environmental changes but also policies and power structures. Third, we contend that lived resilience is not merely about coping but also encompasses the ability to develop critical discourses and influence governance.

Rethinking Human Resources in Public Administration: An Empirical Analysis of the Problem of the Ineffective Usage of Human Resources in the Public Sector

The purpose of this study is to explore the possible causes and consequences of the problem of ineffective utilization of human resources in the public sector, with reference to the philosophy of "Let the people live so that the state may live", through the extreme example of passive public servants in the public sector, who are also characterized as " benched ". The lack of research focusing on the ineffective usage of human resources in Turkish public administration requires the study to use a research design with a strong exploratory aspect. The importance of this study is to contribute to the knowledge in the focus on the problem of effective use of human resources, which has been constantly mentioned but has not been empirically investigated until now. It is possible to be carried out within the framework of the study to collect and analyze data more easily, especially on sensitive issues such as inactive public officials. Qualitative case design allows to obtain detailed information about a particular social/administrative situation, event, or group and to make unique discoveries about problems. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 47 public employees in the study sample. The reasons for the ineffective usage of human resources can be summarized as follows; Political patronage relations, nepotism, incompetence, unawareness, etc. Consequences of ineffective usage of human resources can be summarized as; loss of motivation and possible job dissatisfaction and problems of person-environment fit, financial weakness, loss of national performance, loss of confidence, loss of individual performance, and inefficiency.

Repair, maintenance, and ordinary politics: Patronage relations in the Mexico City public markets’ network

Repair, maintenance, and ordinary politics: Patronage relations in the Mexico City public markets’ network

The Role of Women in Political Patronage and Political Alliance in the Joxzin Community Organization in the 2019 Election

The aim of this research is to look at the role of women in political patronage relationships which resulted in a political alliance between the community organization Joxzin (Jogjakarta Islamic Never Die) and the political party United Development Party (PPP) in the 2019 elections in 2019. Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta , Indonesia. Joxzin is a community organization consisting of male and female members. This research uses a convergent method of mixing qualitative and quantitative data which is then analyzed using the NVivo 12 Plus application. The findings obtained in this research are that Joxzin has political patronage ties. Joxzin has resources and power compared to patrons because Joxzin as a client can appoint Ahmad Zahran to be Chairman of the Branch Leadership Council of the Yogyakarta City Development United Party. With Joxzin's strong political alliance, Muhammad Yazid from the Sleman Regency Pilkada became a legislative member of the Yogyakarta Special Region People's Representative Council for the 2019-2024 period. Keywords: Political patronage, political alliances, Woman, Joxzin, Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (PPP).

South Asia's unprotected poor: A systematic review of why social protection programs fail to reach their potential.

The incongruity between South Asia's economic growth and extreme poverty has led to a growing interest in social protection and subsequent implementation of anti-poverty initiatives. However, many programs have consistently fallen short of their full potential in reaching the poor. We reviewed the literature to understand the factors behind this failure. A search of EconLit, Global Health Database, MEDLINE and SocINDEX, supplemented by an external search, yielded 42 papers evaluating 23 programs. Inclusion criteria included social and political determinants of program outcomes. Articles were assessed for quality using the GRADE and GRADE CERQual criteria and analyzed using Thomas & Harding's thematic synthesis approach. We identified five themes: (1) structurally flawed program theories overlook the complexities of poverty and are rooted in simplistic cause-and-effect approaches; (2) elite capture through appropriation of benefits, powerful positioning in program implementation, and gatekeeping through relationships of patronage; (3) insufficient targeting strategies to reach the poorest; (4) neglect of gendered restrictions, hidden costs, lack of legal documentation, and physical and social exclusion; (5) active self-exclusion from social protection to maintain dignity, a perception that programs are substandard, and a lack of resources required. The review highlights the well-documented disconnect between South Asian social protection program designs and the ground realities of their 'ideal' beneficiaries. This stems from a dominance of Western-led poverty discourse that disregards the influence of caste, the challenge of effective engagement with a group whose identity remains unclear, and fast-paced funding calls that do not lend themselves to meaningful identification and collaboration with the invisible poor. We suggest this disconnect is intentional and reflects a broader power dynamic rooted in geopolitical interests and national priorities. Study limitations reflect the shortcomings of the existing literature, which largely uses quantitative research methods that fail to capture the multidimensional experiences of the poor.

Study of factors affecting customer patronage: engagement model of health insurance

PurposeImproving health outcomes requires a robust health-care service model that delivers cost-efficient services and increase customer patronage. The purpose of this study is to examine how service quality and convenience influence perceived value, satisfaction and customer patronage of health insurance policyholders. Based on contemporary research, this study further investigates the moderating role of trust, inertia, insurer type and word-of-mouth (WOM) on relationship between satisfaction and customer patronage.Design/methodology/approachThis study conceptualized the dimensions of SERVQUAL and SERVCON as drivers of perceived value leading to satisfaction and finally customer patronage in presence of four moderators. To test the hypotheses, data from 500 consumers who had a running health insurance policy was collected and analyzed using partial least square path modeling.FindingsThe results of this study showed service quality and convenience dimensions significantly affected perceived value. Perceived value strongly influenced satisfaction and customer patronage intentions. Satisfaction had a significant positive effect on patronage. WOM and trust moderated the satisfaction–patronage relationship for recommendation intention but not repurchase intention. The moderators had an indirect bearing on customer patronage.Social implicationsSuch an engagement ecosystem can be considered to be a revolution, as it will change the way businesses are conducted and how stakeholders interact with one another.Originality/valueThis study adapts and integrates the SERVQUAL and SERVCON models to health insurance domain. Second, this study conceptualizes a modified view of post-benefit convenience relevant for health insurance as policy renewal intention rather than returns/exchanges. This addresses a gap in the SERVCON scale's applicability to insurance services. This study also makes a novel attempt of examining implication of WOM and trust in health insurance domain.

Flexible Organizational Weapon of the Party: The New Presence of Women’s Federations in Women’s NGOs in China

ABSTRACT In the past decade, the Party-state has shifted from pragmatic strategies to Party integration approaches when dealing with the third sector. It has reintroduced its organizational mechanism—mass organizations—to manage this sector and enhance direct linkages with its social constituents. This article investigates how mass organizations strategically connect with and govern civil society through a series of Party integration approaches. Drawing on the cases of women’s federations (WFs) and women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs), we propose a new typology of NGOs based on their relations with the Party: WF-affiliated, civic and independent NGOs. We then evaluate WFs’ Party integration strategies directed at each type of NGOs. First, NGOs directly affiliated with WFs/the Party play a unique political role. Second, to increase regime support, WFs develop patronage relations with civic women’s NGOs that are managed via the administrative system but unembedded in the Party system. Third, independent NGOs detached from both the Party and administrative organizations are flexibly marginalized. This article suggests that Party–state–society relations have been rewritten: civil society faces compound control from the administrative and Party systems, and the Party aims to build organizational hegemony.

Patronage, Sectarianism, and Cultural Hegemony

Patronage relationships have been ethnographically found at many locations in the Middle East during the second half of the twentieth century but also detected in ancient Near Eastern sources in more recent times, in every case mostly in connection with political situations. Patronage, however, also operates at the level of mentalities and its expression is equally discovered in worldviews of different cultures. This condition may therefore be observed as well in textualized mental expressions like the Hebrew Bible. In cases exposing sectarianism in the biblical stories, we may assert that patron-client bonds are taken by ancient scribes as the key mode for illustrating domination, subordination and in general an ontological order, transcending socio-politics and impacting also on what we would analytically deem a socio-religious imagination and its ulterior conceptual derivations. This paper seeks to relate clues and examples of patronage and sectarianism in the Hebrew Bible while focussing on their socio-cultural background. These expressions, in the history of the production of the biblical texts, would end up manifesting a particular cultural hegemony of a biblical ontology articulated by patronage dynamics in the southern Levant since the Persian period, but especially in connection with the Hasmonean rise to power, centred in Jerusalem.

Hydropower Politics in Northeast India: Dam Development Contestations, Electoral Politics and Power Reconfigurations in Sikkim

Around the world, the development of large dams has been increasingly contested. India is no exception and has seen the mobilisation of powerful domestic and transnational socio-environmental movements against dams over more than four decades. In this context, the State of Sikkim in northeast India has been entangled in prolonged hydropower development conflicts since the late 1990s. This article analyses these conflictive entanglements between the Government of India, the State Government of Sikkim, power companies and Sikkim’s autochthonous tribe, the Lepchas. It zooms in on the period of 2011–2017, which saw an abrupt escalation of the conflicts to analyse the messy, deeply political and often unpredictable and contradictory world of dam construction and its contestations. Our analysis is informed by the power cube framework developed by John Gaventa. Our analysis shows how hydropower development is deeply intertwined with local patronage relationships. We show how local elections bring out dam conflict and the operation of power into the open, sometimes leading to abrupt and unexpected switches in positions in relation to hydropower development. We show that these switches should be seen not only as “strategic electoral tactics” but also and importantly as contentious political struggles that (re)configure power in the region. We show how in this process, powerful political actors continuously seek to stabilise power relations among the governing and the governed, choreographing a specific socio-hydraulic order that stretches way beyond simple pro- and anti-dam actors and coalitions as it is embedded in deep hydro(-electro) politics and power plays.

De-westernizing public relations: A comparative and global perspective on the influence of personal and patronage relationships across the world

This article highlights diversity and pluralism in the field of public relations. It challenges the normative ideals that books have traditionally taught us about how communication between organizations and their public should be. A review of the importance of personal and patronage relationships in non-western countries from every continent (Latin America and Southern Europe, China, India and Sub-Saharan Africa) shows a rich and complex reality about how communication happens. It reveals that we do not live in a perfect, predictable world – not necessarily a negative factor, but rather a source of richness. This should not be surprising news since the United States, Canada, Australia and western EU countries represent approximately just 8 per cent of the world population. A main diversity factor in strategic communication is the importance of patronage relationships, often ignored or minimized in books on the subject. Offering multiple perspectives aims to show how the importance of considering the construction of personal relationships as part of the strategic menu of organizations should not be stigmatized or considered an undesired outcome to eradicate. In most societies, patronage relationships and personal relations play a large role when organizations build relationships with their public.

The Institution of the Prefecture in Romania (1864– 1892): Between Social Relations of Patronage and Political Networks

Historical research on the institution of the prefecture in Romania (United Principalities) in the 19th century, as a fundamental institution of modern state administration, involves several levels of analysis, combining institutional, political and social history. Our paper will focus on several aspects, in relation to a number of historical features specific to the Romanian case. These features stem from the implementation of a Western-origin institutional model in Romania, after the union of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, until the end of the 19th century. During this period, a maturation of the modern administration can be observed, both legislatively and functionally. In addition to the legislative framework of this period (the communal law of April 1864, amended in March 1872 and March 1883, the law on county councils of April 1864 and the law on the organization of administrative authorities of November 1892), other factors are also noteworthy, which made the prefect in Romania not only a government agent at the local level, but also a county administrator: the patronage relations of the Romanian elite – a legacy of the Old Regime, and the gradual consolidation of the power networks of the governing political parties, both of which had a relevant impact on the selection process of local officials and the conduct of parliamentary elections. Keywords: Institutional history, administrative reform, ispravnik, prefect

Greenwashing Behavior in Hotels Industry: The Role of Green Transparency and Green Authenticity

Greenwashing has become a pervasive phenomenon in the tourism and hospitality sector, posing significant challenges and potential reputational damage to green hotels. Despite its prevalence, research on mitigating greenwashing’s influence on guest trust and behavior remains limited. This study addresses this gap by investigating the moderating roles of green authenticity (GA) and green transparency (GTR) in the relationship between greenwashing and guest green trust (GT), ultimately influencing patronage intentions (PI) towards green hotels. Employing a quantitative approach, the study utilized a questionnaire survey administered to 309 participants, capturing their experiences with green hotels. Subsequent structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis in Smart PLS 4 confirmed several key findings. Firstly, hotel greenwashing negatively impacted green trust and subsequent patronage intentions, encompassing both intentions to stay (IS) at green hotels and willingness to pay a premium (WPP) for green hotels. Secondly, the study established green trust as a significant mediator in the greenwashing–patronage relationship. Most importantly, the analysis revealed the crucial moderating roles of both green authenticity and green transparency. Increased perceptions of GA and GTR significantly attenuated the negative influence of greenwashing on green trust and, consequently, strengthened the positive relationship between GT and PI. These findings suggest that fostering genuine environmentally friendly practices and ensuring clear communication of sustainability efforts can effectively counteract the detrimental effects of greenwashing on green-hotel patronage. The study’s implications extend to practical considerations for green-hotel managers, offering insights into preventive measures to diminish the adverse effects of greenwashing, thereby contributing to the long-term sustainability of their operations.

Politik Uang pada Pemilihan Bupati dan Wakil Tahun 2020 di Kabupaten Mandailing Natal

This article aims to describe the process of vote buying and selling at 2 TPS in Kampung Baru Village and analyze the political relations of incumbent candidates in Kampung Baru Village. This research uses a qualitative descriptive approach with a case study method. The theories used are vote buying, patronage, and clientelism. The research results show that vote buying at 2 TPS in Kampung Baru Village stems from low voter participation. There were 216 voters who came to exercise their voting rights out of 872 voters. Seeing the low voter participation, the Head of Kampung Baru Village as the incumbent's success team asked the KPPS to vote on the remaining ballot papers. KPPS officers agreed and asked the incumbent's success team to discuss it with the PPS chairman of Kampung Baru Village. The results of the negotiations between the PPS chairman and the Village Head resulted in an agreement to buy and sell 400 votes in exchange for Rp. 30,000/ballot paper. The patronage relationship between incumbent candidates and KPPS and PPS officers in Kampung Baru Village occurs through the clientelism network of the Village Head as a liaison mediator who reconciles the political interests of the incumbent with the needs of the organizers. The implications of money politics on the integrity of the regional election organizers and results damage the image and good name of the institution, reduce public confidence in the election organizers and results, damage the quality of the democratic election process and results, disrupt the election implementation scheme and weaken the political legitimacy of the people.

Regulatory Capture in a Transitional Democracy: Media Laws in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

This article focuses on a particular aspect of media capture by examining how the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s media regulatory authorities and governmental bureaucracy use both formal and informal instruments and practices at their disposal to regulate press freedom. It reports on the findings of a mixed-methods approach: A qualitative document analysis of media regulations (such as laws, bills, and guidelines) was combined with 20 in-depth semistructured interviews with both state officials involved in media regulatory authorities and journalists, media managers, and editors-in-chief (N = 20). The findings show deliberate shortcomings in the contents of the laws as a result of pressure from the ruling political parties. In addition, they reveal the existence of informal structures and practices to control formal media regulations through patronage relationships and clientelism. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results with regard to the state of the regulatory chaos occurring within an unstable political environment. This includes imprecise laws and the irregular and unpredictable enforcement of media laws that are restricting journalists, to discern the boundary between legal and illegal. As such, the findings provide key insights on the different dimensions of regulatory capture in transitional democracies more broadly.

The Process of Literary Patronage Relations in the Tanzimat Period in the Example of Filibeli Ahmet Efendi

Türk edebiyatının en uzun periyodu sayılan İslam etkisinde gelişen Türk edebiyatı, edebiyat tarihçileri tarafından divan, klasik, eski Türk edebiyatı gibi farklı tanımlarla adlandırılmaktadır. 15. yüzyıldan itibaren güçlü örneklerini veren Türk edebiyatının bu dönemi, 19. yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren Osmanlı Devleti'nde yaşanmaya başlanan siyasi, iktisadi ve idari dönüşümden doğrudan etkilenmiş, Tanzimat süreci ile birlikte batı etkisinde yeni bir edebiyat oluşmaya başlamıştır. Ancak bu dönüşüm süreci çok hızlı olmamış, klasik dönemdeki tür, şekil ve içeriklerin değişmesi zamanla gerçekleşmiştir. Bu değişim sürecinden doğrudan etkilenmeyen geleneğin bir başka unsuru, şiirlerin yazılış ve sunuluş süreçleridir. Şairler bu dönemde de şiirlerini yine belirli patronlara sunmuşlar, şiirleri karşılığında sosyal ve iktisadi beklentilere girmişlerdir. Balkan coğrafyasında yaşayan Osmanlı şairleri de Osmanlı edebiyatının en büyük koruyucusu ve hamisi olan padişahla edebî bir iletişim hâlinde olmuşlar, padişahtan bir takım talep ve beklentilerde bulunmuşlardır. Bu yazıda Abdülaziz devri şairlerinden olan Muhtar mahlaslı Filibeli Ahmet Efendi'nin Sultan ile kurduğu edebî patronaj ilişkisi incelenmiş, Muhtar'ın Sultan’a sunduğu şiir üzerinden Tanzimat dönemi devlet sanat ilişkisi hakkında bazı değerlendirmelerde bulunulmuştur.

Perempuan dalam Politik: Rekrutmen Anggota Legislatif Perempuan Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDIP) Jawa Timur di Pileg 2019

This study discusses Women in Politics: Recruitment of Female Legislative Members of the East Java Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) in the 2019 Legislative Election. Through political parties, women can integrate themselves into the political system. One of the functions of political parties is as a means of political recruitment, in the study of political science this recruitment is an activity of choosing and selecting and then appointing qualified members to occupy political positions according to their abilities. This research is the result of qualitative research which aims to look at the recruitment process carried out by PDIP East Java. The researcher used the theory of the stages of recruitment from Pippa Norris and the data findings found that the recruitment process was carried out by the PDI Perjuangan party openly. Selection of legislative candidates starts from party cadres, in parties there is gender equality in determining legislative candidates. Political recruitment in selecting candidates was found, parties still prioritize potential candidates who have power for the benefit of the party in increasing votes. The selection process is carried out by the party structure. Decision making in selection shows a patronage relationship from the central leadership (DPP) and regional leaders (DPD) so that it can influence the process of recruiting legislative candidates.

Locked Up in Lockdown

AbstractThis essay traces how sailors aboard wooden sailing vessels (dhows) negotiate mobility across the Indian Ocean, revealing their precarious conditions preceding the COVID-19 pandemic that came to the fore after 2020. Focusing on Yusuf, a sailor in captivity in Iran during the pandemic, the essay suggests that the pandemic shone new light on preexisting patronage relations. However, these relations were creatively harnessed by laborers in times of crisis. Accustomed to sanctions regimes that restricted movement even before the pandemic, Yusuf facilitated his release through new patronage networks that built on his previous experiences of precarity. Rather than seeing this pandemic as a rupture, the essay argues that it led to an intensification of preexisting labor relations, such as patronage. The COVID-19 pandemic saw contagion, threat, vulnerability, devaluation, and precarity being used widely; however, these ideas were sutured to the Global South long before this pandemic, through sanctions regimes, occupation, and conflicts that restricted movement and disrupted supply chains. Patronage, then, was one mode in which maritime laborers navigated a geopolitical realm suffused with the language of threat and contagion. This essay charts a complex geopolitical reordering across the Global South, one not always mediated by the West.

Subversive comparisons

Subversive comparisons

A Look into the Modernization of Turkish Literature Through the Lens of Patronage

This study aims at analyzing the formation of modernization movements in Turkish literature, which advanced from the 1860s on, within the context of transforming relationships of patronage. With an aim to show the importance of the transformation of patronage in the formation of the modernization movements in Turkish literary history, the first part of the study provides the background of artistic patronage through a theoretical framework. Then the function of the patronage mechanism in the context of artistic production throughout the historical development of Turkish literature is outlined. The second part discusses the reflections of the changing patronage on the artworks of Tanzimat artists. It is also shown that the radical transformation in the discourse and understanding of the literary works of this era is a direct result of the alternative financial sources that demolish the suppression of the writer. The third part focuses on how the pressure groups against the sovereign political and economic authority of the court became new patronage centers safeguarding opposing intellectuals and artists in the 19th century Ottoman Empire, and how they affected the processes of modernization movements in Turkish literature. When the data is analyzed in a holistic manner, it can be understood that the modernization movements in Turkish literature which started in the Tanzimat era cannot be comprehended independently from the results of the decline of patronage.