Parties, states and patronage

Abstract

Strong state bureaucracies tend to block the access of politicians to patronage. If, however, politicians have access to substantial quantities of patronage, they are likely to use it for electoral and organisational purposes. Where access to patronage was easy during the formative years of party organisations, this had far‐reaching consequences for the subsequent development of the party system, including electoral competition and party organisation. The case, in this article, is argued mainly on the basis of the northern European experience, and, in particular, an analysis of the development of patronage politics in Iceland.