How Patronal Networks Shape Opportunities for Local Citizen Participation in a Hybrid Regime : Ibidem : 9783838216713 : 3838216717 : 26 Apr 2022 : Oleksandra Keudel proposes a novel explanation for why some local governments in hybrid regimes enable citizen participation while others restrict it. She argues that mechanisms for citizen participation are by-products of political dynamics of informal business-political (patronal) networks that seek domination over local governments. Against the backdrop of either competition or coordination between patronal networks in their localities, municipal leaders cherry-pick citizen participation mechanisms as a tactic to sustain their own access to resources and functions of local governments. This argument is based on an in-depth comparative analysis of patronal network arrangements and the adoption of citizen participation mechanisms in five urban municipalities in Ukraine during 2015?2019: Chernivtsi, Kharkiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Lviv, and Odesa.