Contemporary research on Algerian politics is dominated by an approach "from above." Research based on systemic models and aggregate data is rarely interested in "politics from below." And yet the latter must be considered if one wishes to break from the standard analyse, which suggests that since elections in "authoritarian regimes" are "without choice" they lack heuristic interest. Anthropological analysis, following a natural predilection for the study of particular phenomena, tends on the other hand to ignore the effects of government systems. The two approaches fail to grasp two important analytical dimensions: patrons-client networks - the system of patronage relaying the centre with the periphery - and the embedded nature of state in the society. The electoral phenomenon reveals the nature of state-society relations, and as such is a useful exercise in breaking with such academic pathology: it allows one to observe 'what really going on', to analyze the functioning in concreto of an authoritarian regime beyond expected assumptions. This paper explores an under-researched issue of the Algerian polity: the subtle and yet pervasive role of the zawiya networks in framing the electoral politics. This chapter examines the 'resurgence' of the zawiyas in a country whose Islamic brotherhoods bore the greatest oppression and disintegration during both colonial domination and the post-independence 'socialist' period, of all Muslim countries. Are we witnessing the renaissance of a 'sleeping maraboutism' or the 're-invention of tradition'? I propose to shed light on this issue through an examination of local electoral politics of the province of Adrar (South-western Algeria) during the legislative and presidential elections of 2002 and 2004. This paper, based on a fieldwork using in situ observation and primary resources, examines in its first part the prevalence of maraboutic symbolism in South-western Algeria. It seeks to demonstrate in the second part of the analysis the politics of inventing a neo-makhzan promoted by President Bouteflika since his ascension to power in 1999. The paper seeks to illustrate how the president has: 1) promoted the revival of the zawiya institution by the generous allocation of funds and privileges to the religious lodges; 2) constituted an electorate of followers and a stable base of political support; 3) practiced, via the Sufi paradigm of authority, an instrument of political and social control.