Clientelism and democracy are negatively linked
Comparing Democracy with Clientelism Index across 172 countries, 1948–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.57
- Holding size constant
- -0.46
- Countries compared
- 172
- Period
- 1948–2025
What might link these
The negative correlation between the Clientelism Index and Democracy might suggest that countries with stronger democratic institutions tend to have less clientelism. However, a careful reader should be cautious about potential confounders like economic inequality, which could influence both indicators. The relationship could be driven by underlying factors rather than a direct link.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. This correlation could mislead by implying a causal relationship between clientelism and democracy, when in fact other factors like economic development or cultural context might be driving the association.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.