Political patronage and poverty eradication program in Sabah

This research explores the influence of political patronage on the design, implementation, and outcomes of poverty eradication programs in the state of Sabah, guided by three research objectives. The first objective is to investigate the interplay between political patronage and poverty eradication programs at the Sabah state level. The second is to explore how the patron network influences the prioritization of interests within poverty eradication programs at the Sabah state level. The third is explore how the rent-seeking behaviour affected the implementation and outcomes of poverty eradication programs at the Sabah state level. To make sense of this reality, the study integrates three theoretical perspectives, neo-patrimonialism, institutionalism, and patrimonialism into a single analytical framework. This study employed a qualitative case study, with data collected using purposive sampling techniques and the semi-structured, in-depth interviews were used as the primary method of data collection, while thematic analysis was applied to identify patterns of patronage that underpin the study’s findings. The results indicate that the dynamics of political patronage significantly contribute to the challenges in coordinating and implementing poverty eradication programs in Sabah. The findings reveal how political patronage leads to substantial obstacles, including the emergence of patronage networks, rent- seeking in policy implementation, manipulation of development projects, unequal distribution of resources and benefits, institutional weaknesses and rentier opportunities, politics of staying poor, challenges in coordination and implementation, federalism-related political tensions, sweeping political power, uneven development, dependence on political actors, power imbalances in development projects, power dynamics in federal–state relations, resource allocation driven by network interests, bureaucratic control, and elements of the resource curse. Collectively, these findings explain why Sabah remains one of the poorest states in Malaysia.