Part 7The Search For Order

The Challenge of Disorder

Part Outline

Chapter 23 Politics, Power, and Violence Chapter 24 Spirituality, Religion, and

the Supernatural Chapter 25 The Arts

Chapter 23

Politics, Power, and Violence

How are power and political organizations different?

How are social and political order formed and maintained?

How do political systems obtain popular support?

Chapter Outline

Kinds Of Political Systems

Uncentralized systems– Bands– Tribes

Centralized systems– Chiefdoms– States

Types Of Political Organization: Membership

Membership Number of people Settlement pattern

BandDozens and up Mobile

Tribe Hundreds and upMobile or fixed: 1 or

more villages

Chiefdom Thousands and upFixed: 1 or more

villages

StateTens of thousands

and up

Fixed: Many villages and cities

Types Of Political Organization: Membership

Membership Basis of relationshipsEthnicities and

languages

Band Kin 1

Tribe Kin, descent groups 1

ChiefdomKin, rank and

residence1

State Class and residence 1 or more

Types Of Political Organization: Government

MembershipDecision making,

leadershipBureaucracy

Band “Egalitarian” None

TribeEgalitarian” or Big-

ManNone

ChiefdomCentralized, hereditary

None, or 1 or 2 levels

State Centralized Many levels

Types Of Political Organization: Government

Membership Conflict resolutionHierarchy of settlement

Band Informal No

Tribe Informal No

Chiefdom CentralizedNo Paramount

village or head town

State Laws, judges Capital

Types Of Political Organization: Economy

MembershipDivision of laborExchanges

Exchanges

Band No Reciprocal

Tribe No Reciprocal

Chiefdom No -> YesRedistributive

(“tribute”)

State YesRedistributive (“taxes”)

Types Of Political Organization: Society

Membership Stratified Slavery

Band No No

Tribe No No

ChiefdomYes, ranked by

kinSome small-scale

StateYes, by class or

casteSome large-scale

Types Of Political Organization: Society

MembershipLuxury goods

for eliteIndigenous literacy

Band No No

Tribe No No

Chiefdom Yes No ->Some

State Yes Often

Bands

Small group of politically independent, though related, households.

The least complicated form of political organization.

Found among nomadic societies. Small, numbering at most a few

hundred people.

Bands

No need for formal political systems. Decisions are made with the

participation of adult members, with an emphasis on achieving consensus.

Those unable to get along with others of their group move to another group where kinship ties give them rights of entry.

Segmentary Lineage Organization

Tribes

Tribes consist of small, autonomous local communities, which form alliances for various purposes.

Economy based on crop cultivation or herding.

Population densities generally exceed 1 person per square mile.

Leadership among tribes is informal.

Chiefdoms

The chief is at the head of a ranked hierarchy of people.

The office of the chief is usually for life and often hereditary.

The chief’s authority serves to unite his people in all affairs and at all times.

Highly unstable as lesser chiefs try to take power from higher ranking chiefs.

State

The most formal of political organizations.

Political power is centralized in a government, which may use force to regulate the affairs of its citizens and its relations with other states.

Since their first appearance 5,000 years ago, states have shown a tendency toward instability and transience.

The Kurds: A Nation Without A State

Political Leadership and Gender

Women have enjoyed political equality with men in a number of societies:

Iroquoian tribes of New York State - men held office at the pleasure of women, who appointed them and could remove them.

Igbo of Nigeria - women held positions that paralleled and balanced that of the men.

Internalized Controls

Self-imposed by individuals. Rely on such deterrents as shame, fear

of divine punishment, and magical retaliation.

Although bands and tribes rely heavily upon them, they are generally insufficient by themselves.

Externalized Controls

Mix cultural and social control. Positive sanctions reward appropriate

behavior. Negative sanctions punish behavior.

Functions of Law

Defines relationships among a society’s members and behavior under different circumstances.

Allocates authority to employ coercion to enforce sanctions.

Redefines social relations and aids its own efficient operation by ensuring it allows change.

Settling Disputes

A dispute may be settled in two ways: 1. Negotiation - the parties to the

dispute reach an agreement with or without the help of a third party.

2. Adjudication - An authorized third party issues a binding decision.