Starting with Chap. 3 , the author’s focus shifts to those aspects of and elements in the rural social institutions that are favorable to, or “facilitate”, the coalescence of political power. For example, centralized accounting, deficit-neutral tax codes, and other extra-legal instruments allowed the tax and fiscal systems to strengthen the taxation power of primary-level political authorities. Key figures engaged in power play, which was a crucial part of rural politics. The cadres recruitment mechanism spurred the emergence of factions (political support system), which sought to advance their own long-term interests and security through strategic nomination of candidates. There were also a myriad of norms and conventions that had been passed down, both written and un-written, from generations before that lent themselves to being capitalized on by primary-level political figures to strengthen their hold on power.