Political Organization

and Social Control

Ms. Carin Alejandia
Enderun Colleges, Inc.
 objectives
• What are the different types of political
organization?
• What are the various theories concerning the
origins of the state?
• In the absence of kings, presidents,
legislatures, and bureaucracies, how is social
order maintained in stateless societies?
• What are the causes of war?
 Types of Political Organization
• Differences are due to three dimensions
1. The extent to which political institutions are
distinct from other aspects of the social
structure.
2. The extent to which authority is concentrated
into specific political roles
3. The level of political integration
 Types of Political Organization
• (Service, 1978)
• Band societies
• Tribes
• Chiefdoms
• States
 Variations in political aspects
of world cultures
bands tribes chiefdoms states
Degree to which indistinguishable Less Less distinguishable
political institutions indistinguishable distinguishable
are distinct from
kinship
Level of political Local group Pantribal Few local Many groups
integration 20-30/ 30-50 mechanism, communities
segmentary,
minimal lineage
Specialized political Informal Informal Individual with Highly
roles leadership by leadership based an advisory specialized
age on needs council
Degree of political Little/ none Little (based on Fairly complete complete
coerciveness need) (based on
legitimacy)
 Variations in Socioeconomic
Aspects of World Cultures
bands tribes chiefdoms states
Major mode of foraging Horticulture/ horticulture/ Intensive
subsistence pastoralist pastoralist agriculture
Mode of reciprocity redistribution redistribution market
distribution
Population size 20-50 clans Group of High density
lineages
Level of social egalitarian Pan-tribal Chief-related Class/caste
differentiation mechanisms elite vs
commoner
example !kung of Nuer of Sudan Precolonial Nation vs state
kalahari desert hawaian Nation-state
 Theories on the rise of states
• Childe (voluntaristic theory) and Wittfogel
(hydraulic theory)- people voluntarily gave up
their autonomy in exchange for certain
perceived benefits such as protection, more
effective means of conflict resolution, and
greater food productivity.
• Carneiro- states developed as a result of
warfare and coercion rather than voluntary
self-interest
 summary
• All societies have political systems that
function to manage public affairs, maintain
social order, and resolve conflict. The study of
political organization involves such topics as
the allocation of political roles, levels of
political integration, concentrations of power
and authority, mechanisms of social control,
and means for resolving conflict.
 Summary
• Political anthropologists generally recognize
four fundamentally different levels of political
organization based on levels of political
integration and the degree of specialized
political roles: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and
states
 summary
• Societies based on bands have the least
amount of political integration and role
specialization. They are most often found in
foraging societies and are associated with low
population densities, distribution systems
based on reciprocity, and egalitarian social
relations
 summary
• Tribal organizations are most commonly found
among horticulturalists and pastoralists. With
larger and more sedentary populations than
are found in band societies, tribally based
societies have certain pan-tribal mechanisms
that cut across a number of local segments
and integrate them into a larger whole.
 summary
• Chiefdoms involve a more formal and
permanent political structure than is found in
tribal societies. Political authority in
chiefdoms rests with a single individual, either
acting alone or with the advice of a council.
Most chiefdoms which have distinct social
ranks, rely on feasting and tribute as a major
way of distributing goods.
 summary
• State systems—with the greatest amount of
political integration and role specialization—
are associated with intensive agriculture,
market economies, urbanization, and complex
social stratification. It appeared 5500 y.a. It
has a monopoly on the use of force and can
make and enforce laws, collect taxes, and
recruit labor for military and public service.
 Summary
• In the absence of formal mechanisms of
government, many band and tribal societies
maintain social control by means of a number
of informal mechanisms such as socialization,
public opinion, corporate lineages,
supernatural sanctions and age organizations
 summary
• More formal means to control social behavior
and promote social order are verbal
competition, intermediaries, council of elders,
oaths, ordeals, formal court systems, and
warfare.
 summary
• A society will go to war:
1.Blames another society for its own social
problems
2.Believes that it is threatened
3.Wants to further its own end
4.Is defending its moral position