In so doing, Chatterjee offers a contemporary and cogent affirmation of the Gramscian critique of civil society, although one at odds with Lehmann's more ambiguous treatment, and an implicit critique of political society and its treatment of the poor. In contrast to Chatterjee,who celebrates the opportunities available to subalterns by engaging with politicians and civil servants in political society, Lehmann argues that clientelistic politics invariably underpins relationships between politicians and subalterns, or the poor. It oppresses the poor, subjecting them to base forms of rent-seeking behaviour, for instance, where they are forced to vote, and provide public and other demonstrations of support, for politicians or government agents who provide them with discretionary access to their rights and entitlements. Poor people, he argues, are therefore: