"This is a useful, informative and much needed study of the organization, activities and location of local government in the Chilean political system. The study is divided into three sections: part one describes the stakes in local politics and its place within the competitive party system; part two focuses on the centrality of particularistic demands in local politics and the local and national networks and linkages that facilitate their articulation; and part three deals with a historical survey of center-local relations, throwing new light on municipal reform movements and the steady deterioration of local government. One of the most useful discussions considers the use and abuse of patron- client conceptualizations in describing political and social action." Political Science Quarterly
"This volume is important principally because it offers us, for almost the first time, a view of the dynamics of local politics in Chile prior to the political constraints imposed in 1973. The book is also significant for its theoretical clarification of 'broker politics' as distinct from the more conventional patron-client analyses." Perspective: Government/Polltics/lnternational