Public action and political clientelism: dangerous liaisons

This article introduces this special issue with a scientific review on policy analysis and research on clientelism. This state of knowledge leads us to conclude that these scientific research are generally disconnected because of the division of the production of scientific knowledge. This disconnection does not sometimes facilitate the understanding of politics and policies. Based on a study on the place of clientelism in policy analysis and of policies on reasearch on clientelism, we propose questions and thinkings allowing us to articulate these two areas of research to contribute to a better view on the politicization of policies.