The Gender Gap in Political Clientelism: Problem-Solving Networks and the Division of Political Work in Argentina

• Published date: 01 February 2021
• Author: Mariela Daby
• Date: 01 February 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0010414020926194
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414020926194

Comparative Political Studies

2021, Vol. 54(2) 215 –244

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0010414020926194

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Article

The Gender Gap in

Political Clientelism:

Problem-Solving

Networks and the

Division of Political

Work in Argentina

Mariela Daby1

Abstract

The literature on clientelism has recognized the importance of problem-

solving networks, but ignored their gendered nature. Contrary to what is

often assumed, I argue that female brokers have fewer opportunities to

use clientelism for building, enlarging, and sustaining political networks than

male brokers. First, I find that female brokers invest heavily in a nonvoting

constituency because their work centers on children. The gendered division

of political work hence reduces women’s chances of building a following.

Second, female brokers are less able to distribute resources beyond their

political network, diminishing their chances of enlarging the size of their

constituency. Third, female brokers have a harder time punishing those who

receive benefits but fail to participate in politics, limiting their ability to recruit

new followers. Drawing on two decades of fieldwork in Argentina, this

article studies the gender gap in political clientelism and the consequences

of the division of political work for political representation. The article

shows how these differences in opportunities, over time, translate into a

political underrepresentation of female brokers and an impoverished quality

of democracy.

1Reed College, Portland, OR, USA

Corresponding Author:

Mariela Daby, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland, OR 97202, USA.

Email: mariela@reed.edu

926194CPSXXX10.1177/0010414020926194Comparative Political StudiesDaby

research-article2020

216 Comparative Political Studies 54(2)

Keywords

clientelism, gender, Latin American politics, Argentina, networks

Introduction

What is the ratio of female to male brokers? Do female brokers offer voters

the same type of services as male brokers? Are differences in service provi-

sion significant in explaining the gender gap in political representation?

Although we have seen a tremendous interest in studying political clientelism

(see, for example, Auerbach & Thachil, 2018; Calvo & Murillo, 2019; Diaz-

Cayeros et al., 2016; Gans-Morse et al., 2014; Larreguy et al. 2016; Stokes

et al., 2013), we remain unable to answer these questions. Mainstream

research on the subject has remained blind to gender differences, failing to

recognize gender as important, relevant, and informative for the study of cli-

entelism in comparative politics. Instead, they wrongly assume that brokers,

female and male, pursue the same strategies to mobilize voters and get com-

pensated equally.

Studying problem-solving networks in poor neighborhoods in Argentina,

I find that male brokers always and systematically outnumber female brokers

on the ground. I also find a clear division of political work between male and

female brokers in which only and exclusively female brokers solve the prob-

lems of nonvoting populations. Soup kitchens illustrate the gendered division

of political work at the local level. Although soup kitchens receive resources

from the government, municipality, and political parties (and their candi-

dates) to feed children, they are often informal institutions dominated by

female brokers. Over the course of two decades of visiting soup kitchens in

poor neighborhoods, I consistently find less than a handful of male brokers

cooking and serving food. Indeed, in the few cases where male brokers did

help run the soup kitchens, they took political credit for the daily work put in

by numerous female brokers who bought groceries, decided what to cook,

prepared and served the meals, and cleaned the pots, plates, cups, and silver-

ware to make sure that the soup kitchen could serve food the following day.

Although female brokers who work in soup kitchens play a key role in

poor neighborhoods by feeding the most vulnerable population, the service

they provide remains undervalued in politics and understudied in political

science. By focusing on the division of political work, I revisit existing find-

ings to provide a novel understanding of the effects of clientelism on political

representation. Contrary to what is often assumed, I argue that female brokers

have fewer opportunities than male brokers to use clientelism due to their

participation in different problem-solving networks. The near-exclusive dedi-

cation and involvement of female brokers in political networks that target