Mobilizing for Elections

'In exemplary fashion, this book manages to combine a significant contribution to the theory of democratic accountability and linkage formation between electoral constituencies and political elites with a thorough and subtle multi-method empirical analysis of partisan competition in three important, but often understudied Southeast Asian countries. Especially the conceptualization of electoral mobilization regimes – how partisan networks are intertwined with the deployment and targeting of resources on electoral constituencies – should resonate in the research community.' Herbert Kitschelt, George V. Allen Distinguished Professor of International Relations Professor of Political Science, Duke University 'Mobilizing for Elections is a major contribution to studies of clientelism, patronage and elections. It fundamentally shifts attention away from micro-level, voter-broker-politician linkages and toward distinct electoral mobilization regimes through which politicians distribute resources, mobilize networks, and implement public policies. And drawing on extensive, well-executed research across Southeast Asia, it makes a convincing argument that historical legacies, institutional differences, and social-group characteristics explain the different mobilization regimes. This is a seminal study that cautions against assumptions that findings on clientelism transfer easily from one context to another, provides a framework for understanding different findings, and raises important new research questions.' Ellen Lust, Professor and Founding Director of the Program on Governance and Local Development, University of Gothenburg '[This] outstanding study … will be essential reading for all interested in Southeast Asian politics, but also for scholars working generally on subjects such as electoral mobilization, clientelism, patronage, 'money politics', and political parties.' Andreas Ufen, Perspectives on Politics