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Patron-client systems have been the subject of numerous studies in the anthropology and political science literature, including many which have looked at patronage in the public sphere as exclusive networks that cause corruption and weaken democracy. Yet, there is surprisingly limited knowledge about how these systems emerge, evolve, and change. Answers to these questions may provide insights on how to reduce the impact of patron-client systems in government.Patronage is defined as a particularistic, diffuse, and informal exchange between individuals for material and symbolic reasons. Patronage systems are pyramid-shaped hierarchies in which those at the top rungs of society build loyalty networks reaching down to the village and maintained through the capture and cascading of public resources. Complex adaptive systems are created by the interaction of self adjusting agents in a shared environment according to shared and evolving rules of behavior.This paper applies complexity theory in an historical analysis of patronage in Thailand using properties of complex biological systems, such as emergence, evolution, scaling, phase transitions, and algorithms. The paper provides evidence that patronage systems resemble an algorithm with a simple set of rules that reduce risk and increase wellbeing. It shows that the patronage system was sensitive to initial conditions (the man-land ratio) and that it continues to evolve side by side with the modern bureaucracy. Further evidence is provided that conceptions of patronage are changing rapidly in parts of the system (Bangkok), while they persist largely unchanged in the provinces and outside of the public sphere. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]