Information Exchange and Cooperation

Abstract

This chapter deals with what follows once elites in the centre and periphery have gained access to electoral resources and formed coalitions. It examines the informal relations of political actors beyond purely electoral considerations. I show how political elites and parties interact between national and regional levels. The main assumption is that repeated and strong interactions reduce the uncertainty of unintended consequences that reforms may entail, thus making national elites and parties more likely to support decentralization reforms. Once the access to electoral resources between SWPs and NSWPs is clear, different patterns of interaction emerge that structure the relations between centre and periphery. My findings suggest that brokerage is a central mechanism that SWPs use to co-opt elites and parties in the periphery. Given the focus on informal relations I employ social network analysis to depict and analyse the interaction patterns and their consequences as a result of its particular usefulness for unveiling informal relations.