Patron-client relations refers to the complex web of asymmetrical but mutually beneficial social networks that are utilized for the exchange of resources in stratified societies (Abercrombie & Hill, 1976; Roniger & Günesh-Ayata, 1994). It involves a relationship between a patron and client who are involved in a relationship of exchange. The wealthy or influential patron protects the subordinate client in a hostile environment. Patron-client relations can be seen as inimical to a democratic system of representation subject to comıption or as a positive means of influencing decisions affecting the public distribution of private resources. The paradox of patron-client relations is its almost universal persistence from pre-modem times to the present in spite of the unequal exchange that occurs between the patron and client.
Vorzheikina (1994) describes how the new patron-client relations were established atop the former nomenklatura system after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the absence of party mechanisms, former clientelistic relations were used as the foundation of new structures, fusing the old with the new, and providing access to a variety of public and private goods. For the masses, particularistic ties and relationships became important , Vorzheikina states, "as cultural phenomena, as social consciousness, and forms of individual existehce independent of or only formally dependent on the state..." (p. 108). In her view, these personal ties and networks constituted a form of civil society, opposed the official collectivist values, and legitimized the
