The study of patronage and of patron-client relations has come lately to the fore in anthropology, political science and sociology, and has exerted a great fascination for scholars in these spheres. From a topic of relatively marginal concern it has become a central one, closely connected to basic theoretical problems and controversies in all the social sciences.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0010417500009154

Patron—Client Relations as a Model of Structuring Social Exchange

This article draws attention to two propositions concerning the analysis of public policy formation. First, such analysis should take account of inherent constraints that the state faces in the formulation and implementation of its economic policies. Second, policy analysis must necessarily deal with specific historical contexts within which constraints on state policy formation operate. The main purpose of this article is to apply these two propositions to a study of the rural development strategy pursued by the Alliance government in Peninsular Malaysia. A second purpose is to derive from the empirical case certain theoretical implications which can be relevant for the analysis of the role of the state in economic development.

Peasants, the state and policy constraints: The political economy of rural development in peninsular Malaysia 1957–69

The signal performances of Southeast Asian countries in attaining economic growth and political stability are frequently explained by cultural and policy factors. Recent research suggests, however, that the role of the state is extensive and central to economic and political goals. The present approach to the comparative evaluation of state capacities attempts to account for the variations and nuances of the performance of Southeast Asian states. The structure of political support and available means of social control provide relatively greater capacity to state elites in Singapore and Malaysia, and less capacity to state elites in the Philippines and Indonesia; Thailand is an intermediate case.

State, Social Elites, and Government Capacity in Southeast Asia

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/53512/1/511716907.pdf

Policies for Private Sector Development in Indonesia

/pdf/indians-and-national-television-in-indonesia-behind-the-seen-1klmoyahys.pdf

M. Ruth Pfanner

Papers

Underdevelopment and Economic Nationalism in Southeast Asia.