Politicians in Southeast Asia, as in many other regions, win elections by distributing cash, goods, jobs, projects, and other benefits to supporters, but the ways in which they do this vary tremendously, both across and within countries. Mobilizing for Elections presents a new framework for analyzing variation in patronage democracies, focusing on distinct forms of patronage and different networks through which it is distributed. The book draws on an extensive, multi-country, multi-year research effort involving interactions with hundreds of politicians and vote brokers, as well as surveys of voters and political campaigners across the region. Chapters explore how local machines in the Philippines, ad hoc election teams in Indonesia, and political parties in Malaysia pursue distinctive clusters of strategies of patronage distribution – what the authors term electoral mobilization regimes. In doing so, the book shows how and why patronage politics varies, and how it works on the ground.

'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
'This book is a major pathbreaking contribution to the voluminous literature on the role of patronage in what is often described as 'defective' electoral democracies in and outside Southeast Asia. Every scholar interested in patronage politics has much to learn from this work.' Yoshinori Nishizaki, Asian Affairs

Edward Aspinall is Professor of Political Science and Social Change at the Australian National University. He is the author of Opposing Suharto: Compromise, Resistance and Regime Change in Indonesia (2005), Islam and Nation: Separatist Rebellion in Aceh, Indonesia (2009) and Democracy for Sale: Elections, Clientelism and the State in Indonesia (2019, with Ward Berenschot). Meredith L. Weiss is Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY. She is the author of Protest and Possibilities: Civil Society and Coalitions for Political Change in Malaysia (2006), Student Activism in Malaysia: Crucible, Mirror, Sideshow (2011), and The Roots of Resilience: Party Machines and Grassroots Politics in Southeast Asia (2020). Allen Hicken is Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of Building Party Systems in Developing Democracies (2009), Politics of Modern Southeast Asia (2010), Party and Party System Institutionalization in Asia (2014), and Electoral Dynamics in the Philippines (2019). Paul D. Hutchcroft is Professor of Political Science and Social Change at the Australian National University. He is the author of Booty Capitalism: The Politics of Banking in the Philippines (1998) and editor of Mindanao: The Long Journey to Peace and Prosperity (2016) and Strong Patronage, Weak Parties: The Case for Electoral System Redesign in the Philippines (2019).