To test a related hypothesis, an index of political development was constructed and applied. Six special attempts to obtain effective political control of the Hawaii prison bureaucracy were studied. These attempts were also historical events that took place between 1960 and 1989, involved state political leaders, and received considerable media coverage. The findings about political development provide support for the hypothesis in that all but one of the total index scores were negative and suggest that the rate of Hawaii`s political development is regressive. Simultaneously, the prison bureaucracy obtained increased resources at progressive rates ranging from 254 percent to 28 percent, and authority also increased. Consequently, political development did not occur at a comparable rate to the rate at which the prison bureaucracy obtained resources and authority. 4 tables and 68 references