Abstract
In the summer of 1966 the Royal Lao Government (RLG) faced a parliamentary crisis. Strong regional factions in the National Assembly demanded that Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma redistribute the cabinet seats left vacant by the withdrawal from the government of the Neo Lao Hak Xat (NLHX, or Pathet Lao political front) deputies. After much maneuvering, the Prime Minister managed to retain these seats for the NLHX, should it return to the formally neutralist government.1 Although this delicate situation received close attention from the Western press, it had no meaning whatsoever for the average Lao villager, who probably does not recognize the name of the National Assembly in which he is represented.2 It will be the purpose of this paper to direct the attention of the reader away from the well publicized affairs of the small Lao urban elite to the crucial arena of Lao domestic politics today-the village. Once we have examined the nature of elite politics from the perspective of the villager, we shall be able to draw conclusions that are very relevant not only to the struggle between the RLG and Pathet Lao (PL) in Laos, but also to the analogous conflicts currently taking place in Northeast Thailand and Vietnam.
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