Patronage in La Araucanía: Political Parties and Members of Congress in the Dispute over Political Appointments

Abstract

In all democracies, political parties designate positions, but they no longer have a monopoly on that function. At the local level, congresspersons also play that role. The article describes the type of patronage that exists in the Regional Government of La Araucanía applying a taxonomy proposed by Panizza, Ramos and Scherlis (2014). A qualitative design was used. The results indicate that congresspersons have more influence than the political parties and mayor in determining appointments. It is a heterogeneous patronage, but it is mainly associated with clientelism since it enables the mobilization of voters and the positioning of the parliamentarian.