Charles R. Hankla, Parties and Patronage: Analysis of Trade and Industrial Policy in India

What political factors influence the allocation of economic patronage in democracies? Changing levels of party centralization can drive important changes in the allocation of state largess. When national parties are centralized, national party leaders control patronage and target benefits to particularly influential regions and industries. By contrast, when governing parties are decentralized, influential subnational party leaders advocate for their constituents and allocate patronage evenly through a national logroll. Evidence for these relationships is found by comparing India’s distribution process for industrial licenses and government finance under a decentralized Congress Party (1954–61) and a centralized Congress Party (1969–75).