Party Leaders Face Tightrope: Effective Brokers Risk Machine Vulnerability

This article explores how political party leaders strategically manage local brokers to extract essential services within electoral democracies.

Using a formal model and survey experiments from Argentina — the first probability sample of its kind targeting broker perspectives directly — we demonstrate that while effective brokers are crucial for machine success, they also introduce organizational vulnerabilities that can threaten electoral outcomes.

Key Argument:

* Political machines rely heavily on local brokers to function effectively.

* However, these very brokers who provide vital services create potential risks.

New Contribution:

Our formal model reveals the inherent tension faced by party leaders — they need capable individuals, but effective brokers may undermine long-term stability or electoral performance.

Data & Methods:

Survey experiment conducted in Argentina using a novel probability sample of local party members.