On the margins of power and the community: the “Political Culture” of clientelism

This paper intends to underscore the differences among\ua0the concepts of politician, politics and political culture, so as\ua0to arrive at the impossibility of locating clientelism on the\ua0empty, instituting and discursive spot where the political aspects\ua0are located; this way it is also all the clearer to make\ua0out the distance between clientelism and power relations.\ua0If clientelism is political culture, it is necessary to add that\ua0it operates in reverse, inhibiting and smothering politics.\ua0Clientelism works through the control of resources and the\ua0distribution of privileges among the closer associates; when\ua0it is regarded as reciprocal exchange, disguised of moral values\ua0such as loyalty and solidarity, it refers back to the classic\ua0historical typology that opposes community to modern\ua0society. This perspective results insustainable in light of the\ua0proposal by Roberto Esposito