The survey used to compile the data in Tables 2.5 through 2.7, and Tables 5.2 through 5.4, was designed in coordination with staff members at two Yemeni institutions, the National Institute of Administrative Sciences, and the Yemeni Center for Studies and Research, both located in the capital Sanaa. This 1996–1997 survey aimed to record the personnel changes in Yemen’s various provincial administrative bodies before and after the country’s national unification in May 1990. Due to the lack of effective public recordkeeping in Sanaa, and the loss of south Yemeni government files in Aden after the 1994 civil war, it was necessary to conduct this first-of-its-kind survey to discover changes in the country at the provincial level. For this purpose I designed a survey with the help of the late astute professor Othman Said al-Mikhlafi, who was one of Yemen’s leading experts on local administrative affairs, and Dr. Abduh Ali Othman, a former minister of local government in north Yemen and current professor of sociology at Sanaa University.

In consultation with Professor al-Mikhlafi and Dr. Othman, it was agreed that the best means of collecting the desired information was to draw up a detailed survey form, which I could take on research trips to several of Yemen’s most important provinces. During these research trips, I would interview the relevant local administrative officials who could complete the information on the survey form. Dr. Othman arranged a letter of sponsorship from the head of the Yemeni Center for Studies and Research, the esteemed national poet Dr. Abd al-Aziz al-Maqaleh. In addition, Professor al-Mikhlafi helped arrange a separate letter of introduction to all provincial governors signed by the deputy minister of local administration in Sanaa. This letter requested assistance from each governor’s staff during my stay in the provincial capitals. Both of these letters were instrumental in giving me the proper entry to conduct research throughout the country at a time of relative stability.