Chapter 12

The Organization of Political Life

Chapter Outline Forms of Political Organizations Social Control and Law Legal Systems

Forms of Political Organization Bands - egalitarian Tribes - egalitarian or ranked Chiefdoms - ranked States - stratified

Bands Earliest form of human political structure. Survived until modern period only in

regions of the world with limited natural resources.

Simple bands had a family head based on influence.

Composite bands had Big Man leadership based on influence.

Bands simple bands

Autonomous or independent political units, often consisting of little more than an extended family, with informal leadership vested in one of the older family members.

composite bands Autonomous political units consisting of

several extended families that live together for most or all of the year.

Big Men Political leaders who do not occupy formal

offices and whose leadership is based on influence, not authority.

Influence The ability to convince people they should

act as you suggest.

Authority The recognized right of an individual to

command another act in a particular way; legitimate power.

Tribes Several economically self-sufficient

residence groups. Number between 1,000 to 20,000 people. Few formal leadership positions with

limited authority, access based on inheritance and/or achievements.

Group cohesion maintained by sodalities.

Tribes Autonomous political unit encompassing a

number of distinct, geographically dispersed communities that are held together by sodalities.

Sodalities Formal institutions that cross-cut

communities and serve to unite geographically scattered groups; may be based on kin groups or on non-kin-based groups.

Chiefdoms Several economically interdependent

residence groups. Number from a few thousand up to about

30,000. Centralized leadership, with a hereditary

chief, with full formal authority.

States Usually numbering from tens of

thousands up to several million. Centralized leadership with formal full

authority, supported by a bureaucracy.

Social Control Mechanisms by which behavior is

constrained and directed into acceptable channels, thus maintaining conformity.

Laws

Four attributes: authority obligation intention of universal application sanction

Law A kind of social control characterized by

the presence of authority, intention of universal application, obligation and sanction.

Self-help Legal Systems

1. Familial - actions and decisions are executed by the families or larger kin groups involved.

2. Mediator - adds a neutral third party who attempts to negotiate and resolve the dispute peacefully.

Feud A method of dispute settlement in self-

help legal systems involving multiple but balanced killings between members of two or more kin groups.

Court Legal Systems Systems in which authority for settling

disputes and punishing crimes is formally vested in a single individual or group.

Incipient courts are court systems in which judicial authorities met, frequently informally, in private to discuss issues and determine solutions to be imposed.

Courts of Mediation Court systems in which the judges

attempt to reach compromise solutions, based on the cultural norms, and values of the parties involved, which will restore the social cohesion of the community.

Courts of Mediation

1. Legal concepts based on the reasonable-person model.

2. Formal judges who have the authority to hear cases and impose sanctions.

Courts of Regulation

1. Laws and sanctions are formally codified.

2. Formal judges who have the authority to hear cases and impose sanctions.

Reasonable-person Model Ask “How should a reasonable individual

have acted under these circumstances?”, using prevalent norms and values.

Quick Quiz

1. Which of the following is not one of the four basic forms of political organization mentioned in the text?

a) tribe

b) band

c) sodality

d) chiefdom

Answer: c

Tribes, bands and chiefdoms are all basic forms of political organization, and sodalities are not.

2. Big men were:

a) tribal leaders

b) leaders of simple bands

c) often tyrants who imposed their authority on others

d) leaders of bands that encompassed unrelated extended families

Answer: d

Big men were leaders of bands that encompassed unrelated extended families.

3. Which of the following is not a form of social control?

a) law

b) gossip and ostracism

c) sorcery or witchcraft

d) none of the above

Answer: d

Law, gossip and ostracism and sorcery or witchcraft are all forms of social control.