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Moammer Qaddafi's The Green Book (no publication information provided) is not a revolutionary manifesto, but a statement issued several years after his accession to power that seeks to enunciate the principles of Libyan government. Its primary thesis is that government should be conducted by the people themselves, rather than be entrusted to parties or representatives; its theoretical structure has significant ambiguities & omissions. A case study of the 1978 elections in the town of Ajdabiya reveals conflict among three major groups: the Zuwaya, the Majabr, & the Magarba. These publicly held elections generated controversy over voting rights, had to be repeated several times, & eventually led to violence. Similar problems have occurred elsewhere in Libya. Segmentary principles appear to govern political loyalties, encouraged by the proscription of party competition & electoral campaigns. The situation cannot be understood as carrying out a political theory, & the difficulties of The Green Book appear to reflect its attempt to give theoretical form to a practice evolved out of inconsistent popular sentiments. 1 Figure. W. H. Stoddard.