Drivers of Conflict: The Political Marketplace

The political marketplace is a system of governance run on the basis of personal transactions in which political services and allegiances are exchanged for material reward.

747x560-somali-money — Somali Shillings. Source: Flickr/AMISOM.

The political marketplace refers to a system of governance where monetised transactional politics have become systematic. Politics is run on the basis of personal transactions in which political loyalties and services are sold to the highest bidder in a competitive manner. In these contexts, the role of ‘institutions’ or the ‘rule of law’ is secondary. For example, a ruler bargains with members of the political elite over how much he needs to pay them — in cash, or in access to other lucrative resources (such as contracts) —in return for their support. The elite can exert pressure on him using their ability to mobilise votes, turn out crowds, or inflict damaging violence.

The political marketplace also refers to a way of analysing how power operates within these political systems – it can help us understand how those countries actually function and how they are likely to respond to external interventions and other political and economic changes.

The concept of the political market arose from Alex de Waal’s engagement with political elites and processes of conflict resolution in the Horn of Africa. The key concepts derived from the vernacular used by the Sudanese political elites, especially when dealing with conflict-affected peripheral regions such as Darfur. The framework was immediately recognised as consistent with the experience of politicians and political commentators from a number of other countries in north-east Africa. It has since become widely used in both the academic and policy-literature and is one of three logics used in the Conflict Research Programme to investigate how public authority functions.

Our political marketplace research outputs:

2021

Mehchy, Zaki, '', LSE Conflict Research Programme, February 2021.

Ali Saleem, Zmkan, '', LSE Conflict Research Programme, January 2021.

2020

Haji Ingiriis, Mohamed, '', Journal of Contemporary African Studies, June 2020.

Skelton, Mac and Ali Saleem, Zmkan '', LSE Conflict Research Programme and IRIS, June 2020.

Gotts, Isadora '', LSE Middle East Centre - Conflict Research Programme, May 2020.

de Waal, Alex, Sarkar, Aditya, Detzner, Sarah and Spatz, Ben 'A Theory of Change for Violent Political Marketplaces', LSE Conflict Research Programme and World Peace Foundation, February 2020.

Hoffmann, Kasper, Vlassenroot, Koen and Mudinga, Emery ‘’, Journal of Eastern African Studies, January 2020.

2019

Hoffmann, Kasper, ‘’ Geoforum, November 2019.

Al-Mawlawi, Ali ‘, Report, LSE Middle East Centre- Conflict Research Programme, November 2019.

. , POMEPS, October 2019.

de Waal, Alex. ‘, Occasional Paper, LSE Conflict Research Programme and World Peace Foundation, August 2019.

Schouten, Peer et al. ‘’, IPIS Research, April 2019.

de Waal, Alex. ‘South Sudan: The Perils of Payroll Peace’, Memo, LSE Conflict Research Programme, March 2019.

de Waal, Alex. ‘’, Occasional Paper, LSE Conflict Research Programme and World Peace Foundation, January 2019.

de Waal, Alex. ‘?’, Occasional Paper, LSE Conflict Research Programme and World Peace Foundation, August 2018.

Hoffmann, Kasper, Pouliot, Marieve and Muzalia, Godefroid. ‘’, Report, Social Science Research Council, March 2019.

Mansour, Renad. ‘’, Report, LSE Middle East Centre- Conflict Research Programme, February 2019.

Skelton, Mac and Ali Saleem, Zmkan. ‘’, Report, LSE Middle East Centre- Conflict Research Programme, February 2019.

2020

, Conflict Zone from the LSE Conflict Research Programme, 12 August 2020.

, Conflict Zone from the LSE Conflict Research Programme, 29 July 2020.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme, 23 January 2020.

2019

, LSE Conflict Research Programme, 11 October 2019.

, Trend Lines: World Politics Review, 01 August 2019.

2018

, LSE Middle East Centre - Conflict Research Programme, 30 October 2018.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme, 19 March 2018.

2017

, Rift Valley Institute, 15 August 2017.

2020

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, 17/06/2020.

', LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, 16/06/2020.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, 12/05/2020.

2019

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, 30/10/2019.

LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka and Koen Vlassenroot, 14/08/2019.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Alex de Waal, 01/08/2019.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Alex de Waal, 03/07/2019.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Kasper Hoffman, Godefroid Muzalia and Marieve Pouliot, 26/06/2019.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Hainan Dukhan, 02/05/2019.

, The Conversation, Peer Schouten, 22/04/2019.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Alex de Waal, 28/03/2019.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Samer Abboud, 31/01/2019.

, LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Hayder al-Khafaji, 16/01/2019.

LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Ali Al-Mawlawi, 14/01/2019.

2018

, LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Zmkan Ali Saleem, Mac Skelton and Christine van den Toorn, 06/12/2018.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, Mary Kaldor, 29/11/2018.

LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Ali Al-Mawlawi, 18/10/2018.

, LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Hayder al-Khafaji, 17/10/2018.

, LSE Conflict Research Programme Blog, 03/10/2018.

, LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Christine van den torn, 04/09/2018.

LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Mac Skelton and Karam Bahman, 25/09/2018.

The Conversation, Peer Schouten, 21/08/2018.

, LSE Middle East Centre Blog, Jessica Watkins, 13/06/2018.

, Africa at LSE Blog - Public Authority Series, Alex de Waal, February 2018.

Introduction to the Political Marketplace for Policymakers, JSRP Policy Brief 1, Alex de Waal, March 2016.

, Polity Press, Alex de Waal, September 2015.

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