Offsetting the iron law of oligarchy: the ebb and flow of leadership accountability in a regional peasant organization

Since rural elites often centralize power at the regional level, rural membership organizations must also concentrate power regionally in order to become effective counterweights. Yet to remain internally democratic and to reduce vulnerability to external intervention, regional organizations must, at the same time, decentralize power internally. These twin imperatives pose a contradiction. This study found that while regional control over development activities is often economically necessary, it inherently creates a source of leadership power not directly linked to the membership assembly, thereby potentially distancing the leadership from its base. -from Authors