Clientelism
Etymology
From Latin cliens (stem client-), a "dependent" or "follower" under the protection of a more powerful patron. In ancient Rome the client-patron bond was a formal web of mutual obligation, and the modern term revives that structure to describe politics run on personal exchange. The word carries its Roman origin intact: the citizen recast as a dependent seeking a protector.
noun · /KLY-un-tel-iz-um/
A system in which political support is exchanged for material benefits, so that votes and loyalty are traded for jobs, money, or favors.
What it names
It exposes a transactional layer beneath formal democracy, where representation works less through policy than through personal deals with patrons.
Example
Turnout in the district ran on clientelism, with each neighborhood boss delivering votes in return for public-works contracts.
Related idea
Patronage is the power to grant favors; clientelism is the whole reciprocal system of exchange that binds patron and follower over time. Patronage describes the giver’s hand, clientelism the durable relationship it creates.