ABSTRACT
A minimal definition of factionalism, as described by anthropologists, is political conflict in which the contending groups are temporary, randomly recruited by a leader or leaders, informally organized, and lacking a sharp ideological focus. Polly states that she finds the line between factionalism and ethnicity in the town committee very fine; her comment refers to a generally perceived ideological gulf between conservative ethnic Catholics and liberal Jews. Factionalism in the town committee does not break on white-black lines but it does break on perceptions of black issues. If Polly in considering factionalism thinks in white ethnic terms, Abby thinks about practically every political topic in stark black and white. Whether factionalism is valued or deplored, it is a part of the political process that has received an abundance of journalistic and social scientific attention. Without exception, the forty-seven recognize factionalism as pervasive within the Greenburgh town committee. In talking about it they refer mainly to the pre-phase of mobilizing support.
