ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book concentrates on the development of authority in a large metropolitan suburb. It aims to explain how ordinary people living in a new urban community found their way to elite officials and major institutions, and to show that, as part of this process, they were required to exert leadership and create their own informal system of governance. Clientelism helps account for much of the stability in leadership which exists despite the many changes that take place in regimes. The book examines broadly-based cultural norms throughout the area also buttressed clientelism, and it appears that these and similar norms were in operation throughout the century. Indeed, Hanks concluded, following his study of political clientelism in Thailand, that the power of client relationships lay in their flexibility.
