Weapons of the Wealthy

Review "Many analysts casually comment on the importance of 'informal politics' in Central Asia, but in Weapons of the Wealthy, Scott Radnitz provides an elegant theory of 'subversive clientelism' that explains how vertical and horizontal networks of patronage actually operate. This pioneering book is a major contribution to our understanding of the sources of political mobilization in Central Asia and across other illiberal states where coalition-building and contestation take place outside the formal institutions of the state."-Alexander Cooley, Barnard College, Columbia University "In this important study, Radnitz examines the processes of political change in post-Soviet Central Asian states. Based on extensive fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Radnitz sets out to understand the dynamics of mass mobilization in opposition to authoritarian regimes. . . . He argues that these mass protests, rather than being organized by civil society organizations, result from the incentives created by a system . . . in which . . . elite actors are able to provide significant benefits to local communities . . . [allowing them] to mobilize collective action that challenges the state in order to promote their own interests."-Choice "Weapons of the Wealthy is simply one of the best examples of deep, qualitative, theory-driven research that I have seen. This book is a significant step in building a body of theory on how politics really works in hybrid regimes."-Henry E. Hale, George Washington University, author of Why Not Parties in Russia? "Weapons of the Wealthy is a highly original and comprehensive account of the complicated contortions of political change in Kyrgyzstan. Scott Radnitz makes masterful use of comparative political theory to provide important new insights on why people revolt, even in highly divided societies."-Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, Stanford University