POLITICAL SYSTEMS PART II CHAPTER 10

CHIEFDOMS Chiefdoms will be more complex than either bands or tribes Chiefdoms date back approximately 6000 years Very few survive today Chiefdoms were transitional from band and tribes to states There is overlap between tribes and chiefdoms and chiefdoms and archaic states

CHIEFDOMS CONTINUED Archaic states were those early states thousand of years ago—different from todays nation states Nations States today- autonomous political unit encompassing many communities within its territory, having a centralized government with the power to collect taxes, draft men for work or war and decree and enforce laws.” Another term sometimes used is “complex chiefdoms” which are very similar to states

CHIEFDOMS POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS Much of our chiefdom information comes from the area of Polynesia Social relations are based on kinship, marriage, descent, age, generation and gender One difference from tribes is that chiefdoms have permanent political structure and regulation Chiefdoms can incompass thousands of people in many villages

CHIEFDOMS POLITICAL AND ECONOMICS SYSTEMS 2 Chiefs would have assistants or officers below him to carryout various government or leadership tasks Chiefs were full time political leaders, unlike tribes or bands People would give part of crops called the first fruits to the chief The chief would many times give this back in what is know as chiefly redistribution

CHIEFDOMS AND SOCIAL STATUS Much of social status was based on descent with seniority being the defining factor Polynesian leaders would keep long genealogies sometimes up to 50 generations The ranking system was very complex between both siblings and cousins Because of the complex divisions it was difficult to determine between the elite and the common people

STATES States are autonomous units with social classes and formal government Populations are usually large Very specializes systems and subsystems are found in all states

4 SPECIALIZED FUNCTIONS FOUND IN STATES POPULATION CONTROL JUDICIARY ENFORCEMENT FISCAL

POPULATION CONTROL-STATES Many tools are used such as census, boundaries, custom and immigration officers, and police or military Subdivision are also used such as provinces, districts, “states”, counties parishes and cities Kinship is diminished in states Geographic mobility changes and breaks the ties of families and kinship

POPULATION CONTROL-STATUS People in states used other divisions to define themselves Ethnic background, place of birth, occupation, religion or even team or club affiliation Different rights or obligations are granted to citizens and noncitizens

JUDICIARY States have laws based on legislation and sometimes precedent Crimes and violations are defined by a legal code Unlike the non-state groups, governments and public law may intervene into family situations

ENFORCEMENT All states will have some or various levels of agents to enforce laws and deliver and regulate consequences The two main divisions are police and the military Internal peace enhances productivity and expansion

FISCAL SYSTEMS Financial or fiscal systems must exist to support the various parts of a state system States will vary in how much enforcement of fiscal policy that the government will take on All states have a form or forms of redistribution (taxation) In Many states the government seems to support the elite more than the common people