Bricks and Mortar Clientelism Sectarianism and the Logics of Welfare Allocation in Lebanon
World Politics 62, No. 3 (July 2010)
42 Pages Posted: 15 Aug 2013
Date Written: July 8, 2010
Abstract
In plural societies, social welfare can be a terrain of political contestation, particularly when public welfare functions are underdeveloped and ethnic or religious groups provide basic social services. It is well established that such organizations favor in-group members, but under what conditions do they serve out-group communities? To address this question, we compare the welfare programs of the predominantly Sunni Muslim Future Movement and the Shi’i Muslim Hezbollah in Lebanon. Although they operate under the same institutional rules and economic contexts and boast the largest welfare programs in their respective communities, the Future Movement aims to serve a broader array of beneficiaries, including non-Sunnis, while Hezbollah focuses more exclusively on Shi’i communities. Based on analyses of an original dataset of the spatial locations of welfare agencies, qualitative data from interviews with providers and beneficiaries and case studies of areas where the two parties established and did not establish welfare agencies, we argue that distinct political mobilization strategies – whether electoral or non-electoral – explain different patterns of service delivery across the two organizations.
Keywords: Sectarianism, clientelism, ethnic politics, social welfare, Lebanon
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