Democratic elections ideally involve discussions of the challenges and opportunities facing the nation, and of the policies that might best address them. Yet real-world elections rarely seem to fulfil those hopes. 

One of the alternative realities found in many countries today is the politics of clientelism, where candidates effectively buy votes by rendering services to particular individuals, families, or other groups within society. How can systems where such practices are entrenched be nudged towards more so-called programmatic competition based on competing policy visions?

Alan Renwick is joined by Dr Jeremy Bowles, Lecturer in Comparative Politics at UCL Political Science.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Bowles, J. and Larreguy, H. (2025) ‘Who Debates, Who Wins? At-Scale Experimental Evidence on the Supply of Policy Information in a Liberian Election’, American Political Science Review

UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.