The Middle East faces ongoing challenges in democratization and in corruption. This article examines the influence of wasta – a Middle Eastern form of clientelism – on citizens’ political attitudes. Although wasta is situated between citizen services and corruption, many citizens view wasta as corrupt. Using Arab Barometer survey data, this article shows that the widespread use of wasta in the Middle East makes citizens less satisfied with their current largely non-democratic governments. Wasta also increases their interest in democracy as an egalitarian alternative regime structure. Wasta users, however, are protective of the personal advantages that wasta networks afford them. Widespread wasta thus represents a challenge to democratization.

中文翻译：

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瓦斯塔与中东的民主态度

中东面临着民主化和腐败方面持续的挑战。本文探讨了影响瓦斯塔– 中东形式的依附主义 – 影响公民的政治态度。虽然瓦斯塔许多公民认为，它位于公民服务和腐败之间瓦斯塔腐败。本文使用阿拉伯晴雨表调查数据表明，广泛使用瓦斯塔中东的局势使公民对当前基本上非民主的政府不太满意。瓦斯塔也增加了他们对民主作为一种平等主义替代政权结构的兴趣。瓦斯塔然而，用户会保护个人利益瓦斯塔网络负担得起。广泛瓦斯塔因此，这是对民主化的挑战。