Part 7 The 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 MembershipNumber of peopleSettlement pattern Band Dozens and upMobile TribeHundreds and up Mobile or fixed: 1 or more villages ChiefdomThousands and up Fixed: 1 or more villages State Tens of thousands and up Fixed: Many villages and cities

Types Of Political Organization: Membership MembershipBasis of relationships Ethnicities and languages BandKin1 TribeKin, descent groups1 Chiefdom Kin, rank and residence 1 StateClass and residence1 or more

Types Of Political Organization: Government Membership Decision making, leadership Bureaucracy Band“Egalitarian”None Tribe Egalitarian” or Big- Man None Chiefdom Centralized, hereditary None, or 1 or 2 levels StateCentralizedMany levels

Types Of Political Organization: Government MembershipConflict resolution Hierarchy of settlement BandInformalNo TribeInformalNo ChiefdomCentralized No Paramount village or head town StateLaws, judgesCapital

Types Of Political Organization: Economy Membership Division of labor Exchanges BandNoReciprocal TribeNoReciprocal ChiefdomNo -> Yes Redistributive (“tribute”) StateYes Redistributive (“taxes”)

Types Of Political Organization: Society MembershipStratifiedSlavery BandNo TribeNo Chiefdom Yes, ranked by kin Some small-scale State Yes, by class or caste Some large-scale

Types Of Political Organization: Society Membership Luxury goods for elite Indigenous literacy BandNo TribeNo ChiefdomYesNo ->Some StateYesOften

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.