Money For Votes

This book explains why vote buying is common in low-income democracies in Africa, and examines its consequences for democratic accountability.

Politicians distribute money to voters during campaigns in many low-income democracies. Many observers call this practice 'vote buying'. Money for Votes develops an alternative theory of electoral clientelism that emphasizes the role of monetary handouts in conveying information to voters, helping politicians enhance the credibility of their promises to deliver development resources and particularistic benefits to their constituents. Supported by interviews, experiments, and surveys in Kenya, and additional evidence from qualitative and survey data from elsewhere in Africa, the study tests the implications of this argument, and traces the consequences of electoral clientelism for voter behaviour, ethnic politics, public goods provision, and democratic accountability. Ultimately, the book suggests that the relationship of electoral clientelism to the quality of democracy is far more nuanced than our instincts might suggest.

A major new expose of financial outrages in Washington, by the best-selling author and investigative journalist.

Muhtadi’s analysis of vote-buying in post-democratization Indonesia is original, profound, subtle, nuanced, and convincing as well as beautifully organized and well written. Equally important, its imaginative policy prescriptions will be widely read and cited as a significant contribution to the literature of comparative electoral politics. —William Liddle, Ohio State University, USA This book presents a pathbreaking analysis of vote-buying in Indonesia. Drawing on a stunning array of evidence, Muhtadi reveals the mechanics, patterns and effects of vote-buying with unprecedented clarity. [Title] is a must read for anyone interested in Indonesian politics or in the comparative politics of clientelism. —Edward Aspinall, Australian National University, Australia This book contains a trove of interesting research questions, a novel theoretical contribution, impressive empirical work, and a deep and nuanced understanding of the Indonesian case. —Allen Hicken, University of Michigan, USA This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book investigates the impact of vote buying on the accountability of democratic institutions and policy representation in newly democratic countries, with a focus on Indonesia. In doing so, the book presents a wide-ranging study of the dynamics of vote buying in Indonesia’s young democracy, exploring the nature, extent, determinants, targeting and effectiveness of this practice. It addresses these central issues in the context of comparative studies of vote buying, arguing that although party loyalists are disproportionately targeted in vote buying efforts, in total numbers—given the relatively small number of party loyalists in Indonesia—vote buying hits more uncommitted voters. It also demonstrates that the effectiveness of vote buying on vote choice is in the 10 percent range, which is sufficient for many candidates to secure a seat and thus explains why they still engage in vote buying despite high levels of leakage. Burhanuddin Muhtadi is a lecturer at State Islamic University, Jakarta. He is also an executive director of Indonesian Political Indicator and Director of Public Affairs at Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI). He has published his articles in numerous scholarly journals.--

Is the election result in a constituency affected by the amount of campaign spending there? This book, originally published in 1987 was the first major study of this important question. Based on extensive original research, it addresses two main issues: the impact of constituency campaign spending on election results in Britain: and the question of how that impact changes with the level of spending. The author develops a framework for analysing spending and its impact based upon American analyses of campaign expenditures, and focusses on general election results from 1950-83. Consideration is also given to minor parties and to both local and European elections.