1 7 C H A P T E R POLITICAL SYSTEMS 17-2

POLITICAL SYSTEMS What Is “The Political”? Types and Trends Bands and Tribes Chiefdoms State Systems Social Control 3

POLITICAL SYSTEMS What kinds of political systems have existed worldwide, and what are their social and economic correlates? How does the state differ from other forms of political organization? What is social control, and how is it established and maintained in various societies?

WHAT IS “THE POLITICAL”? Substantial variation in power, authority, and legal systems Power: ability to exercise one’s will over others; authority is formal, socially approved use of power Prefer “sociopolitical organization” in discussing regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives

TYPES AND TRENDS Service: four types, or levels, of political organization Band: small kin-based group among foragers Tribe: economy based on nonintensive food production

TYPES AND TRENDS Service (continued) Chiefdom: intermediate form between tribe and state Differential access: favored access to resources by superordinates over subordinates State: formal governmental structure and socioeconomic stratification

BANDS AND TRIBES A common set of questions: What kinds of social groups does society have? How do social groups represent themselves to each other? How are internal and external relations regulated?

FORAGING BANDS Modern foragers live in nation-states and an interlinked world All foragers now trade with food producers Most contemporary hunter-gatherers rely on governments and missionaries The San Kent: tendency exists to stereotype foragers; stresses variation among foragers

FORAGING BANDS The Inuit Good example of conflict resolution (settling disputes) in stateless societies Foragers lacked formal law (the legal code of a state society, with trial and enforcement provisions) but had methods of social control for dispute settlement Lived in Arctic, so hunting and fishing by men primary subsistence activities

FORAGING BANDS The Inuit (continued) Adult women outnumbered men Most disputes originated over women Wronged man had options Murder brings retaliation Song battle, but wife might not return

Figure 17.1: Location of the Inuit 12

TRIBAL CULTIVATORS Tribes: typically have horticultural or pastoral economy and organized by village life and/or descent-group membership Lack socioeconomic stratification and formal government Regulatory officials are village heads, “big men,” descent-group leaders, village councils, and pantribal associations

TRIBAL CULTIVATORS Horticultural villages are usually small, with low population density and open access to strategic resources Age, gender, and personal traits determine how much respect people receive Egalitarianism diminishes as village size and population density increase

THE VILLAGE HEAD The Yanomami believe that the position of village head (local tribal leader with limited authority) is achieved; it comes with very limited authority Must lead by example Acts as mediator in disputes Must lead in generosity

THE “BIG MAN” Big man: like a village head, except his authority is regional and may have influence over more than one village Common to South Pacific Must be generous Serves as temporary regional regulator who can mobilize supporters

THE “BIG MAN” The “Big Man” among the Kapauku Tonowi is only political figure; achieved through hard work and amassing wealth in form of pigs and native riches Distinguished by generosity, eloquence, bravery, physical fitness, and supernatural powers Decisions accepted as binding

Figure 17.2: Location of the Kapauku 18

PANTRIBAL SODALITIES Pantribal sodalities: groups that extend across whole tribe, spanning several villages Best examples: Central Plains of North America and tropical Africa Plains: leadership needed to raid enemy camps and manage summer bison hunt

PANTRIBAL SODALITIES Secret societies are sodalities Sodalities create non-kin linkages between people based on age, gender, and ritual

PANTRIBAL SODALITIES Tend to be found in areas where two or more different cultures come into regular contact Pantribal sodalities draw members from several villages and can mobilize large numbers of men for raids Masai of Kenya and Tanzania Masai of Kenya: men born during four-year period circumcised together and belong to same named group, an age set, throughout their lives Sets moved through age grades; warrior grade most important

NOMADIC POLITICS Nomads must interact with a variety of groups, unlike most sedentary societies Powerful chiefs commonly found in nomadic groups that have large populations Example: Basseri and Qashqai

NOMADIC POLITICS The Basseri have smaller population Chief, khan, similar to village head Position achieved; allegiances are with person Larger Qashqai have multiple levels of authority and more powerful chiefs Authority can be more coercive Allegiances are with office

Figure 17.3: Locations of the Basseri and Qashqai 24

CHIEFDOMS Transitional form of sociopolitical organization, between tribes and states Carneiro: state is “an 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” Ideal type

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS Social relations based on kinship, marriage, descent, age, generation, and gender Chiefdoms and states are permanent Office: permanent position that must be refilled when it is vacated by death or retirement Offices outlast individuals Offices ensure that sociopolitical organization endures across generations

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS Chiefs play important role in production, distribution, and consumption of resources Collect foodstuffs as tribute Later redistribute collected foodstuffs at feasts (chiefly redistribution)

STATUS SYSTEMS Based on seniority of descent People in a chiefdom believed to have descended from common ancestors The chief must demonstrate seniority of descent Lack of sharp gaps between elites and commoners

STATUS SYSTEMS Differential access to resources Allocation of rights and duties States characterized by much clearer class divisions than chiefdoms Stratification (differential access by social classes or strata) is a key feature

THE EMERGENCE OF STRATIFICATION Weber: three dimensions of social stratification: Economic status or wealth: all a person’s material assets; the basis of his or her economic status Power: the ability to control others; the basis of political status Prestige: esteem, respect, or approval; the basis of social status

THE EMERGENCE OF STRATIFICATION Archaic states had contrasts in wealth, power, and prestige between groups Superordinate: upper, elite group in stratified society; privileged access to wealth, power, and valued resources Subordinate: lower, underprivileged group in stratified society; limited by privileged group

Table 17.1: Max Weber’s Three Dimensions of Stratification 32

RECAP 17.1: Economic Basis of and Political Regulation in Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States 33

STATE SYSTEMS State specializations Population control Judiciary Law enforcement Fiscal systems

POPULATION CONTROL States control population through administrative subdivision: provinces, districts, “states,” counties, subcounties, and parishes Aim is to foster geographic mobility and resettlement Differential rights are assigned to different status distinctions

JUDICIARY States have laws based on precedent and legislative proclamations All states have courts and judges The law is unique in that it governs family affairs States attempt to curb internal conflict Presence of laws has not reduced violence

ENFORCEMENT Agents of the state mete out punishment and collect fines Although states impose hardships, they offer advantages Formal mechanisms designed to protect against external threats and to preserve internal order

FISCAL SYSTEMS Fiscal system: pertains to finances and taxation States redistribute (through taxation), but generosity and sharing played down The state does not bring more freedom or leisure to the common people Elites of archaic states have reveled in the consumption of sumptuary goods

SOCIAL CONTROL Social control: “those fields of the social system (beliefs, practices, and institutions) that are most actively involved in the maintenance of any norms and regulation of any conflict” (Kottak)

SOCIAL CONTROL Norms enable individuals to distinguish appropriate and inappropriate behavior Political systems have informal, social, and subtle aspects along with formal governmental and public dimensions

HEGEMONY AND RESISTANCE Hegemony: subordinates comply by internalizing rulers’ values and accepting the “naturalness” of domination (Gramsci, 1971) Make subordinates believe they will eventually gain power Separate or isolate people while supervising them closely Popular resistance most likely when people are allowed to assemble

WEAPONS OF THE WEAK The oppressed may seem to accept their own domination, even as they question it offstage in private Public transcript: open public interaction between superordinates and subordinates Hidden transcript: critique of power that goes on offstage, where the power holders can’t see it

WEAPONS OF THE WEAK Discontent may be expressed in public rituals and language Resistance is most likely expressed openly when people are allowed to assemble Hidden transcripts tend to be expressed publicly at certain times and in specific places

SHAME AND GOSSIP “Informal” control through fear, stigma, shame, and gossip key in small-scale societies Makua: three sanctions for social control: Cadeia (jail): the last phase of an extended political and legal process Enretthe (sorcery attack): was believed such a punitive sorcery attack would kill the thief or make him extremely ill Ehaya (shame): thief would experience extended feeling of disgrace

Figure 17.4: Location of the Makua and the Village of Nicane in Northern Mozambique 45

SHAME AND GOSSIP Shame can be powerful social sanction The “informal” processes of social control include gossip, stigma, and shame The efficacy of social control depends on how clearly people envision the sanctions that an antisocial act might trigger