Neopatrimonialism Revisited - Beyond a Catch-All Concept

Gero Erdmann and Ulf Engel

No 16, GIGA Working Papers from GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies

Abstract: The article provides a critical discussion of the literature on 'patrimonialism' and 'neopatrimonialism' as far as the use in Development Studies in general or African Studies in particular is concerned. To overcome the catch-all use of the concept the authors present their own definition of neopatrimonialism based on Max Weber's concept of patrimonialism and legal-rational bureaucracy. However, in order to make the concept more useful for comparative empirical research, they argue, it needs a thorough operationalisation (qualitatively and quantitatively) and the creation of possible subtypes which, in combination, might contribute to a theory of neopatrimonial action.

Keywords: neopatrimonialism; patrimonial and legal-rational bureaucratic domination; hybrid regimes; rent seeking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:gigawp:16

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