This thesis attempts to examine the structure and functioning of politics in Sierra Leone at the Chiefdom , Constituency, District and National Levels, and the interactions between those levels. It is postulated that previous analyses of Sierra Leone politics have concentrated on the national level to the detriment of the peripheral areas, thus producing a distorted picture of the political process. 'Local' political issues take precedence over 'national' issues because of the nature of the brokerage system which developed in Sierra Leone to cope with the problemE$ resulting from the colonial power imposing the institutions of an integrated nation-state on a fragmented, 'plural' society. The Kono District is examined because it has a long history of opposition to the Central Government. Its people felt a sense of grievance that their district, which produced a large proportion of the national wealth because of the rich diamond deposits there, was not receiving its fair share of development resources. It is also an area undergoing rapid social and economic changes. A chronological approach is adopted to describe the changes between l~f~and 1970, and the work ends with some speculations on the nature of Centre-Periphery relations in Sierra Leone.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:558567 |
| Date | January 1971 |
| Creators | Minikin, Victor |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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