BAYART, J. F.; Jean-Francois Bayart has been working for three years on a doctoral thesis on the Cameroun political system, at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He has written articles on various aspects of Cameroun politics in the Revue Françdse de Science Politique and in the Revue Française d'Etudes Politiques Africaines. The editors of African Affairs, having—rashly—undertaken the task of translation, must accept responsibility for any shortcomings in the rendering of this article. These have at least been reduced by the generous help of several Francophone Africanist colleagues