Publication Date

5-7-1975

Abstract

ln the course of a community study of a Dominican municipality focusing on political leadership, it become apparent that a structural-functional account of political organization should be supplemented by an approach through which we might deal with the instability characterizing the formal political system.

Network analysis techniques were applied to on examination of political transactions between leaders; this was supplemented by a structure1-functiona I analysis of political institutions and formal organizations directly or indirectly involved in political competition .

A series of events having political meaning were described and analyzed, both from the network-transactional perspective (representing the “personal order”), and from the structural-functional perspective (representing the “structural order”). Events were grouped under three areas of institutional reference, namely: 1) the political co1mpoign of 1968, 2) the organization of a coffee-growers' cooperative, 3) the Romain Catholic Church and community development.

The analysis revealed that: a) a stable pattern of personal network ties underlies apparent political instability; b) two factions ore emerging in the municipality, characterized by polarization of formal organizations into two operating units, one associated with the "government" party, the other with on "opposition" party; c) factional polarization is accomplished by a very few leaders who superimpose personal network ties or action sets on the formal organizational structure, thus serving as power brokers or politico I entrepreneurs; d) there was a marked difference in personal network patterns between leaders of the two factions with respect to heterogeneity of sources of support and access to power: the faction associated with the "opposition 11 parties revealed a much greater heterogeneity in types of personal and institutional support, and much less reliance on power, independent or derived; 3) the use of factional organization based on personal ties gave both sets of leaders much greater flexibility in the pursuit of long-term strategies than they would have had if they relied on formal organizational structure: for the 11government11 party faction, this resulted in increased personal power, and permitted the resolution of contradictions between campaign promises emanating from high levels and the realities of politico I competition. For the "opposition" faction, factional organization facilitated the mobilization of scattered and meagre political resources, allowing long-term competition with a party possessing overwhelming institutional power.

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Anthropology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Anthropology

First Committee Member (Chair)

ln the course of a community study of a Dominican municipality focusing on political leadership, it become apparent that a structural-functional account of political organization should be supplemented by an approach through which we might deal with the instability characterizing the formal political system. Network analysis techniques were applied to on examination of political transactions between leaders; this was supplemented by a structure1-functiona I analysis of political institutions and formal organizations directly or indirectly involved in political competition . A series of events having political meaning were described and analyzed, both from the network-transactional perspective (representing the “personal order”), and from the structural-functional perspective (representing the “structural order”). Events were grouped under three areas of institutional reference, namely: 1) the political co1mpoign of 1968, 2) the organization of a coffee-growers' cooperative, 3) the Romain Catholic Church and community development. The analysis revealed that: a) a stable pattern of personal network ties underlies apparent political instability; b) two factions ore emerging in the municipality, characterized by polarization of formal organizations into two operating units, one associated with the "government" party, the other with on "opposition" party; c) factional polarization is accomplished by a very few leaders who superimpose personal network ties or action sets on the formal organizational structure, thus serving as power brokers or politico I entrepreneurs; d) there was a marked difference in personal network patterns between leaders of the two factions with respect to heterogeneity of sources of support and access to power: the faction associated with the "opposition 11 parties revealed a much greater heterogeneity in types of personal and institutional support, and much less reliance on power, independent or derived; 3) the use of factional organization based on personal ties gave both sets of leaders much greater flexibility in the pursuit of long-term strategies than they would have had if they relied on formal organizational structure: for the 11government11 party faction, this resulted in increased personal power, and permitted the resolution of contradictions between campaign promises emanating from high levels and the realities of politico I competition. For the "opposition" faction, factional organization facilitated the mobilization of scattered and meagre political resources, allowing long-term competition with a party possessing overwhelming institutional power.

Second Committee Member

James Marshall Sebring

Third Committee Member

Harry Wetherald Basehart

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