Multiparty elections and land patronage: Zimbabwe and Côte d'Ivoire

This paper aims at some general understanding of the phenomenon of politicians using land rights as a patronage resource in attempts to mobilise electoral support. Using Zimbabwe and Côte d'Ivoire as case studies, it argues that the increasing visibility of land as a patronage resource in African multiparty elections may be at least partly explained by the convergence of three specific constraints and incentives confronting politicians. First, weak legal restraints on rulers’ ability to allocate land rights create opportunities for politicians to use land as a patronage resource. Second, competitive multiparty elections mean that politicians must work to mobilise constituency support in order to win. Third, the dwindling fiscal capacity of the state can heighten the attractiveness of land as a patronage resource. Land can be offered as a patronage resource even when state coffers run low.