Clientelism and Role of Political Agents in Service Delivery
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Date
2017
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University of Management and Technology
Abstract
Clientelism has been the informal political system of rural and urban areas of Punjab wherein votes and support are traded implicitly and explicitly. The informal political system is controlled by powerful elites who affect the mechanism of service delivery. The purpose of this study is to investigate different patterns of Clientelism in rural and urban areas (especially South Punjab) for which District Bahwalpur has been taken as case study. In the said case study the research questions are focused to explore and find the nature of clientelistic networks, their effect on service delivery and their role in diverting public resources towards selective groups. To answer these questions the theory of Rational Choice is adopted to look into the clientelistic networks in which votes or support for enhancement of interests. In this regard Documentary Analysis is adopted as a method to study Punjab Budget Books for F.Y 1999 to 2016 in order to investigate patterns of diversion of public resource towards selective Groups. Further, interview has been adopted as a method to explore clientelistic networks in rural and urban areas of District Bahawlapur. The results reveal that there are sharp and overlapping patterns of Clientelism in rural and urban areas of District Bahawalpur. The expenditures patterns show that different Governments since 1999 have been diverting public resources towards particular segments i.e construction of roads etc. on political preferences at the expense of other social sectors such as health and education. Such tendencies result in unequal distribution of resources among different regions and constituencies. The unequal distribution of resources has also widen the rich poor gap and feeling of relative disparity between West and South Punjab lead towards emergence of various political movements for greater autonomy for the region.
Description
Supervised by: Dr.Gul.i.Hina
Keywords
Documentary Analysis is adopted, District Bahawlapur,political system, M.Phil