I should have clarified what I meant by a patron-client relationship. Modifying a definition I found on the web it is:

An ongoing mutually obligatory relationship between an individual (the patron) who has authority, social status, wealth, or access to some other limited resource and another person (the client) who benefits from his or her support or influence. In return the client supports the patron through labor, a portion of his or her earning, or loyalty.

The relationship could be strictly economic/service oriented (as in the case of farmers who work the patron's land) or could be identity based (as in the case of real or artificial family or clan relationships).