The study was qualitative in nature as it helped to understand and make interpretations of behaviors, emotions, beliefs, texts, discourses and relationships of individuals in the community studied. The case study design, one of the formats used in qualitative research, was used primarily to determine the potential of participation in decision making to demonstrate power. The ability to describe and explain in detail aspects of processes in a social unit in their actual social context is the main reason why this research adopted the case study design (Feliciano, 1994). Yin (2003) also promotes the case study as a method of choice when the case studied cannot be distinguished from its context. This is the situation of this particular study. Stake (1995) suggests that although there is little interest in “generalizing to the species… the case researcher examines part of the whole, trying to understand what the specimen is, how it works” (pp. 36-37). Yin further explains that case studies can be exploratory, aiming to define the questions and hypotheses of a follow-up study, and descriptive, explaining how events occurred. Furthermore, case studies have become particularly useful for obtaining valuable information from interviewees. It helped to have a better understanding of situations as the researcher asked what information was most useful in providing insight into the community being studied (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). Case study researchers focus specifically on the cases they are interested in and not on the methods used (Stake, 2003 cited in Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). This then led the researcher to be practical in choosing the most appropriate method for gathering relevant details. Unlike other formats, the results of the case...... half of the document ......proper within the context of the study. The approach isolates particular issues within a community, examines them in detail, then evaluates the relative influence of variables (such as groups, individuals, and activities) that contributed to their outcomes (Dahl, 1957). During the decision-making process, the approach guided the research path by determining who successfully initiates, modifies, or vetoes decisions as they are made. Much of the work based on this approach describes how competing groups or individuals struggle within a community through creating a balanced, if perhaps unequal, distribution of power. Furthermore, studies using this approach tend to develop findings that support diversity within a community power structure. It should be underlined that this approach was used to integrate the case study to give different dimensions to the research.