essay

Process in administrative and political action

Local-level politics : social and cultural perspectivesChicagoPublished In 1968 • Pages: 227-241

By: Swartz, Marc J..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is an analysis of two political cases, in which Swartz argues the importance of the public's role in the competition and use of power. According to Swartz, there is no such thing as power without the participation of people, either as the source or object of power. The first case involves the appointment of a local official, whose only local support is the richest person in the village. The latter is able to garner the backing of the district council and national party for his candidate. In the next case, local women defy the threat of sanctions and resist the same official's admonitions to attend literacy classes in a far-off town. The official backs down realizing that his ability to carry out 'nation-building' and hold onto his office, ultimately depends on the compliance of locals in rural development projects.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Community heads
Territorial hierarchy
Form and rules of government
External relations
Ethnosociology
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Bena
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2003
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 2002
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1962-1965
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1962-1965
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Njombe District, Iringa Region, Tanzania
NotesAdditional notes
Marc J. Swartz
Includes bibliographical references (p. 241)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
68019875
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Bena (African people)