Market Reform as a Stimulus to Particularistic Politics

We know little about how market reform affects political development, especially citizens' behavior. Market reform advocates prescribe that citizens should reduce their reliance on the state, turn to nonstate actors for assistance, and obtain limited state goods and services through their membership in certain social categories, not their particular traits. An analysis of three mass surveys and 232 interviews the author conducted in Central Asia, along with additional data from 24 postcommunist countries, reveals that market reform can have effects opposite from those prescribed: Individuals may make particularistic demands of government officials instead of relying on nonstate actors. This occurs in countries where state economic intervention was substantial and where reforms reduced the state's economic role but failed to develop market-enhancing institutions. Under these conditions individuals informally seek resources from state officials because nonstate actors do not offer substitute resources, and market reform policies discourage reliance on the state.