Patron-Client Relationship between Village Heads and Their Residents during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This article will understand the role of the village’s head during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sampang regency in 2020. This article utilizes status and role theory by Linton to elaborate role, role facilities, and role-set the village head status as an analytical tool. Then the patron-client theory by Scott is used to understand the village head’s position as the “father” of the villagers. This article uses a qualitative approach and takes a case study of ten villages in Sampang Regency, East Java Province. The data collection technique was carried out through in-depth interviews with ten village heads and secondary data from the internet, namely the Sampang local government’s official website and local news online media. This article discovers that the role of village heads during a pandemic includes: the role of shaping public opinion to be aware of the COVID-19 virus, the role of consolidation through volunteers and information centers (Call Center), and the role of facilitators in the COVID-19 social assistance program. Besides, this article finds that the patron-client relationship between the village head and residents is still strong enough that the village head as the formal leader as well as the informal leader as the village protector during the pandemic.