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Political Patronage in Asian Bureaucracies

Political Patronage in Asian Bureaucracies

Political Patronage in Asian Bureaucracies

B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh
Colin Knox, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Byeong Seob Kim, Seoul National University
October 2023
Available
Hardback
9781009208062
$130.00
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Hardback
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eBook

    Political patronage is defined as political actors appointing individuals at their discretion to key positions in the public sector. The book examines this practice in the bureaucracies of 11 Asian countries through the use of a typological framework of patronage types. The framework is based on two key criteria: basis of trust and the major role of political appointees. Several countries with well-developed civil service systems showed minimal levels of patronage (Japan, Singapore and South Korea). Two countries with a weak civil service showed very high levels of patronage appointments (Bangladesh and India). Sandwiched between those extremes are countries with formal civil service systems that are heavily influenced by political parties and by social ties to society (Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and China). The book concludes that not all patronage is the same and what is important is the tasks being performed by appointees and the nature of the trust relationship.

    • Use of a typological framework for political patronage makes cross-country comparisons feasible
    • Adds to the global understanding of how political patronage operates in very different political regime types through the comparative study of 11 Asian countries
    • Captures the nuances of political patronage as not being a 'catch-all' phenomenon since it manifests itself in different forms and to differing degrees in Asia

    Reviews & endorsements

    ‘Building on work in Latin America, the authors explain styles of patronage in Asia considering social homogeneity, party systems, political culture, regime type, and the strength of the civil service. The book is essential reading for all comparativists, and those seeking to understand the behavior of key Asian polities.' John P. Burns, Emeritus Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong

    ‘This volume is a major contribution to the study of the politic of patronage in Asia. It distinguishes patronage from politicisation and clientelism. It analyses why governments in the region resource to patronage in different political contexts. It outlines different types of patronage roles and account for its varieties. The case studies are rigorously presented and relate modalities of patronage to the region's political systems. While the focus is on Asia the typology of patronage roles outlined in the book is a useful analytical tool for the study of patronage across countries and regions. A must for both scholars of politics and of public administration.' Francisco Panizza, Professor in Latin American and Comparative Politics, The London School of Economics and Political Science

    ‘This book presents rich and thick descriptions of patronage patterns in eleven Asian countries based upon a 2×3 typology created by B. Guy Peters, and attempts to explain the types of patronage from comparative perspectives with Latin American and Western countries. The volume fills a gap in the literature on political patronage and public bureaucracy in Asia and will be an useful aid for students and scholars interested in comparative public administration.' Keun Namkoong, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Former President of Seoul Tech and of Korean Association for Public Administration

    ‘This collective volume is a formidable effort to systematically map and document patronage appointments in public bureaucracies of Asian countries. Drawing on a carefully defined analytical framework previously developed for the study of Latin American bureaucracies, the authors draw on a wide range of primary and secondary data to explore the motivations why political patrons make appointments, what roles patronage appointees play, and the reasons for these forms of patronage to emerge. Comparative lessons are drawn from exploring patronage patterns in a range of multi-party democracies, but also in one-party dominant and autocratic political systems.' Petr Kopecky, Professor of Comparative Studies Political Parties and Party Systems, Leiden University

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    Product details

    October 2023
    Hardback
    9781009208062
    350 pages
    235 × 158 × 24 mm
    0.66kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Patronage in Asian political systems: a framework for research B. Guy Peters
    • Part I. One-party Dominated Systems:
    • 2. Governing the global city's mandarinate: politically motivated appointments in Singapore's public sector Assel Mussagulova and George Wong
    • 3. Patronage and politicisation in the Indian administrative service Naresh Chandra Saxena
    • 4. Political patronage, civil service politicisation and the ordeals of career civil servants: insights from Bangladesh Mohammad Mizanur Rahman
    • Part II. Two-party/Multi-party Systems:
    • 5. Patronage appointment in Japanese politics: political representation in a large bureaucracy Masao Kikuchi
    • 6. Patronage in Mongolia Oyunsuren Damdinsuren, Julian Dierkes and Byambakhand Luguusharav
    • 7. Loyalty or expertise? The practice of political patronage in Taiwan Tong-yi Huang and Zong-xian Huang
    • 8. Patronage in South Korea Min Han Kim, Byongseob Kim and Hyejin Kang
    • 9. Patronage appointments in the Philippine public service Maria Fe Villamejor-Mendoza
    • Part III. Autocracies:
    • 10. Varieties of patronage in a single party state: ministers in China Jiangnan Zhu, Siqin Kang and Yaowensong Song
    • 11. Party patronage in Kazakhstan Colin Knox and Saltanat Janenova
    • 12. Political patronage in Vietnam Minh-Quang Le, Chi-Kien Phung and Quang-Minh Le
    • 13. Conclusions Colin Knox and B. Guy Peters
    • Index.
      Contributors
    • B. Guy Peters, Assel Mussagulova, George Wong, Naresh Chandra Saxena, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Masao Kikuchi, Oyunsuren Damdinsuren, Julian Dierkes, Byambakhand Luguusharav, Tong-yi Huang, Zong-xian Huang, Min Han Kim, Byongseob Kim, Hyejin Kang, Maria Fe Villamejor-Mendoza, Jiangnan Zhu, Siqin Kang, Yaowensong Song, Colin Knox, Saltanat Janenova, Minh-Quang Le, Chi-Kien Phung, Quang-Minh Le

    • Editors
    • B. Guy Peters , University of Pittsburgh

      B. Guy Peters is Maurice Falk Professor of Government at the University of Pittsburgh, and Editor of the International Review of Public Policy. He was the founding president of the International Public Policy Association. His most recent books include Administrative Traditions: Understanding the Roots of Contemporary Administrative Behavior (2021) and Democratic Backsliding and Public Policy (Cambridge, 2021).

    • Colin Knox , Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

      Colin Knox is a professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan and Emeritus Professor at Ulster University (UK). His most recent books are: The Economics of Schooling in a Divided Society: The Case for Shared Education (2015) (with Vani Borooah); and Public Policy, Philanthropy and Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland (2016) (with Padraic Quirk).

    • Byeong Seob Kim , Seoul National University

      Byong Seob Kim is an emeritus professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University. He was the president of the Korean Association for Public Administration. His most recent books is A Discussion on Leadership (『大學衍義』; 대학연의: 리더십을 말하다) (2018).