Why does electoral clientelism persist when ballots are secret and elections are competitive? The provision of material rewards during campaigns is seen as the standard way politicians secure votes in 'patronage democracies'. Yet monitoring clientelistic bargains is difficult when voting is secret, several competitors may provide material inducements simultaneously...

Why does electoral clientelism persist when ballots are secret and elections are competitive? The provision of material rewards during campaigns is seen as the standard way politicians secure votes in 'patronage democracies'. Yet monitoring clientelistic bargains is difficult when voting is secret, several competitors may provide material inducements simultaneously...

Formulating ethnic wedge issues is an important, yet overlooked, strategy for cross-ethnic mobilization in Africa's presidential regimes where coalitions are needed to win elections. Ethnic wedge issues are rhetorical tools intended to splinter the support of a key opponent by employing narratives of ethnically motivated discrimination, victimization, or exclusion,...

Formulating ethnic wedge issues is an important, yet overlooked, strategy for cross-ethnic mobilization in Africa's presidential regimes where coalitions are needed to win elections. Ethnic wedge issues are rhetorical tools intended to splinter the support of a key opponent by employing narratives of ethnically motivated discrimination, victimization, or exclusion,...

Could there be coattail effects in the absence of strong parties? How would such effects manifest in countries with ethnic and personality-based politics? Kenya's 2017 election presents an opportunity for a theoretical and empirical contribution to the study of coattail effects in plural societies. With the newly-created and highly attractive positions of county go...