This is an examination of the political, economic and social develoment of the Sultanate of oman from the accession fo Sultan Qaboos b Sa'id Al-Sa'id in a palace coup in 1970 to the promulgation of the basic law in November 1996. it looks at Oman within the context of the rentier model and argues that the sultanate diverges markedly from that model as the royal family has not utilized oil income to consolidate its control over the country but that, due to the patriarchal tradition of sultantal govenrment and the historical role of commercial, tribal and religoius elites, the Al-Sa'id have...