Sabloff, P. L. W.

Although Mongolian herders sound as if they have adopted capitalist democracy, they are really using the discourse to express their own ideology. Based on cognitive data collected in 1998 and 2003, this paper uses connectionist theory to show that Mongolian herders' political model is shaped by the nexus of three phenomena: (1) a post- socialist political economy granting herders rights and freedoms along with economic responsibility at the family/ household level, (2) the pre- socialist cultural themes of appreciation for independence, perception of leaders as distant patrons, and their own isolation from governance; and (3) emotions that guide the interpretation of both, including joy at attaining rights and freedoms, hope of success and fear of failure, and indifference to governance.