Interview: Vladimir Vučković, economist, former member of the Fiscal Council, lecturer at the Mokrogora Business School
Empirical research shows a strong connection between clientelistic regimes and poverty. When voters are vulnerable, a small, immediate, and selective benefit—a job, a one-off, a subsidy, a gift, local government attention—may have greater political value than the abstract benefit of long-term growth, institutions, or public goods. Poorer voters are cheaper to maintain and easier to mobilize. Thus, a vicious circle is created between poverty and bad policies