“This post-apartheid analysis focuses on local perceptions of the controversial and influential institution of chieftaincy and its interactions with the state, revealing an ongoing struggle for democratization at the local and national levels in South Africa.”

“Examines the complicated interactions between the central state, chieftaincy, and local people in rural areas of post-apartheid South Africa.”
 — Lauren Morris MacLean, Indiana University Bloomington

“Williams (Univ. of San Diego) has added to a gradually growing collection of analyses focusing on the functions of chieftainship in South Africa and their role in the democratization process. His book is based primarily on dissertation research for three case studies from 1998 to 1999, completed in 2001, and taking into account changes and transitions in the decade following his initial research. His focus is on how the chieftaincy 'seeks to establish and maintain its legitimacy' and how it blends the 'principles of liberal democracy with principles of hereditary rule.' He updated his evidence during brief visits in 2003 and 2009, adding numerous surveys, journal articles, news accounts, and interviews to his bibliography. [H]is analysis . . . reflects chieftaincy interactions in the democratization process between the people, the state, and the chief's authority as it has evolved over many decades. An extensive bibliography, numerous informative footnotes, and a useful index add to the book's scholarship. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate and research collections. -- ChoiceAugust 2010”
 — M. E. Doro, emerita, Connecticut College

“Makes an important and substantive contribution to our understanding of political change in South Africa.”
 — Clifton Crais, Emory University