Local and Community Power in Angola
| Published date | 01 September 1968 |
| Author | Norman A. Bailey |
| Date | 01 September 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296802100304 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
400
LOCAL
AND
COMMUNITY
POWER
IN
ANGOLA
NORMAN
A.
BAILEY
Queens
College
of
the
City
University
of
New
York
N
1964-65
a
study
of
contemporary
Portuguese
Africa
was
initiated
by
the
I
Gulbenkian
Foundation
of
Lisbon
and
carried
out
by
a
team
of
American
JL
and
English
specialists.
As
part
of
the
study
the
author
was
commissioned
to
examine
the
institutions
and
processes
of
local
government
and
public
administra-
tion
in
that
part
of
the
world.’-
The
terms
and
conditions
of
the
study
made
it
possible
for
the
author
to
test
the
validity
of
two
propositions
concerning
the
political
process
in
an
authoritarian
society
during
two
months
of
field
work
in
Portugal,
Angola
and
Mozambique.
The
propositions
tested
are
the
following:
1.
As
distinct
from
the
attempt
in
totalitarian
societies
to
destroy
competing
foci
of
power
and
construct
a
monistic
social
structure,
the
political
process
in
authoritarian
societies
is
identical
with
that
of
democratic
societies
with
the
excep-
tion
of
the
power
of
bloc
voting
in
the
latter.
2.
In
authoritarian
societies
the
state
(government
and
bureaucracy)
is
clearly
seen
as
a
distinct
power
aggregate
different
in
function
but
not
different
in
kind
from
other
power
aggregates
operating
in
society
and
engaged
in
the
politi-
cal
process.
This
is
in
distinction
to
the
confusion
that
arises
between
the
state
and
society
itself,
and
which
occurs
in
both
totalitarian
and
democratic
societies - in
totalitarian
societies
because
of
the
conscious
effort
to
identify
the
two
and
make
them
in
fact
identical,
and
in
democratic
societies
because
the
directing
group
in
the
state,
the
government,
is
chosen
by
society
at
large
or
by
some
part
of
it.~
2
The
overseas
territories
of
Portugal
are
divided
into
provinces,
of
which
five
are
in
Africa,
the
two
most
important
by
far
being
Angola
and
Mozambique.
Policy
decisions
covering
all
of
the
overseas
provinces
are
made
by
the
Overseas
Ministry
in
Lisbon,
subject
to
the
approval
of
the
Prime
Minister,
who
is
ultimately
1
Thanks
are
due
to
the
Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation
for
making
this
study
possible.
The
results
of
the
study
will
be
published
in
book
form,
in
1968.
2
These
propositions
were
tested
in
Angola,
where
the
bulk
of
the
field
work
was
done.
The
basic
method
used
was
a
decision-making
study
involving
two
decisions
that
could
be
and
were
made
at
the
provincial,
district
or
municipal
levels
within
the
province.
The
two
issues
were
those
of
commercial
"dispersion"
versus
commercial
"concentration,"
an
issue
of
province-wide
scope,
and
that
of
"clandestine"
quarters,
an
issue
in
Luanda,
Nova
Lisboa
and
other
cities
of
the
territory.
The
research
techniques
used
in
these
decision-making
studies
were
extensive
inter-
viewing
of
government
officials,
legislative
representatives
and
private
individuals
who
took
some
part
in
the
process,
attendance
at
meetings
of
deliberative
bodies
and
a
con-
tent
analysis
of
official
documents,
legislative
records
and
newspapers.
The
results
obtained
were
checked
by
a
rudimentary
reputational
analysis
in
Angola,
by
a
study
of
the
nominating
process
for
the
legislative
councils of
Angola
and
Mozambique,
and
by
the
tracing
through
of
a
single
but
similar
decision
in
Mozambique.
The
propositions
were
tested
under
severe
limitations
of
time
and
personnel.
A
total
of
one
month
was
spent
in
Angola,
and
the
study
was
made
without
research
assistance,
although
with
the
full
cooperation
of
local
authorities
and
private
individuals
and
with
absolute
freedom
of
access
to
documents
and
to
persons.
It
should
be
noted
that
the
author
had
to
divide the
available
time
between
this
study
and
an
institu-
tional/descriptive
study
of
local
government
and
public
administration,
although
the
two
studies
were
obviously
related.
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