Politics, Power and Violence

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Chapter 23

• Politics, Power and Violence

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Chapter Outline

• Kinds Of Political Systems
• Political Systems and the Question of Legitimacy
• Politics and Religion
• Political Leadership and Gender
• Political Organization and the Maintenance of
  Order
• Social Control Through Law
• Violent Conflict and Warfare

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Power

• The ability of individuals or groups to impose
  their will upon others and make them do things
  even against their own wants or wishes.

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Political Organization

• The way power is distributed and embedded in
  society the means through which a society
  creates and maintains social order and reduces
  social disorder.

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Political Systems

• Four basic kinds of political systems
• Bands
• Tribes
• Chiefdoms
• States

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Band

• A relatively small and loosely organized
  kin-ordered group that inhabits a specific
  territory and that may split periodically into
  smaller extended family groups that are
  politically independent.

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Tribe

• Refers to a range of kin-ordered groups that are
  politically integrated by some unifying factor
  and whose members share a common ancestry,
  identity, culture, language, and territory.

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Chiefdom

• A regional polity in which two or more local
  groups are organized under a single chief, who is
  at the head of a ranked hierarchy of people.

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State

• In anthropology, a centralized political system
  that has the capacity and authority to make laws
  and use force to maintain social order.

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Nation

• A people who share a collective identity based on
  a common culture, language, territorial base, and
  history.

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Bands Membership

• Number of People Dozens and up
• Settlement pattern Mobile
• Basis of relationships Kin
• Ethnicities and languages 1

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Tribes Membership

• Number of People Hundreds and up
• Settlement pattern Mobile or fixed 1 or more
  villages
• Basis of relationships Kin, descent groups
• Ethnicities and languages 1

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Chiefdom Membership

• Number of People Thousands and up
• Settlement pattern Fixed Many villages and
  cities
• Basis of relationships Class and residence
• Ethnicities and languages 1or more

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State Membership

• Number of People Tens of thousands and up
• Settlement pattern Fixed 2 or more villages
• Basis of relationships Kin, rank, and residence
• Ethnicities and languages gt1

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Band Government

• Decision making, leadership Egalitarian
• Bureaucracy None
• Monopoly of force and information No
• Conflict resolution Informal
• Hierarchy of settlement No

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Tribes Government

• Decision making, leadership Egalitarian or
  Big-Man
• Bureaucracy None
• Monopoly of force and information No
• Conflict resolution Informal
• Hierarchy of settlement No

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Chiefdom Government

• Decision making, leadership Centralized,
  hereditary
• Bureaucracy None or 1 or 2 levels
• Monopoly of force and information No -gt Yes
• Conflict resolution Centralized
• Hierarchy of settlement No -gt Paramount village
  or head town

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State Government

• Decision making, leadership Centralized
• Bureaucracy Many levels
• Monopoly of force and information Yes
• Conflict resolution Laws, judges
• Hierarchy of settlement Capital

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Band Economy

• Food production No
• Labor specialization No
• Exchanges Reciprocal
• Control of land Band

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Tribe Economy

• Food production No -gt Yes
• Labor specialization No
• Exchanges Reciprocal
• Control of land Descent group

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Chiefdom Economy

• Food production Yes -gt Intensive
• Labor specialization No -gt Yes
• Exchanges Redistributive (tribute)
• Control of land Chief

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State Economy

• Food production Intensive
• Labor specialization Yes
• Exchanges Redistributive (taxes)
• Control of land Various

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Band Society

• Stratified No
• Slavery No
• Luxury goods for elite No
• Public architecture No
• Indigenous literacy No

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Tribe Society

• Stratified No
• Slavery No
• Luxury goods for elite No
• Public architecture No
• Indigenous literacy No

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Chiefdom Society

• Stratified Yes, ranked by kin
• Slavery Some, small-scale
• Luxury goods for elite Yes
• Public architecture No -gtYes
• Indigenous literacy No -gt Some

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State Society

• Stratified Yes, by class or caste
• Slavery Some, large-scale
• Luxury goods for elite Yes
• Public architecture Yes
• Indigenous literacy Often

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Legitimacy

• The right of political leaders to exercise power.
• Required to govern with authority.
• Legitimate government may be distinguished from
  rule based on intimidation or force.
• Most governments use ideology, including
  religion, to legitimize political power.

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Political Leadership and Gender

• Research shows that far fewer women than men have
  held important positions of political leadership.
• In a number of societies, women have enjoyed
  political equality with men, as among the
  Iroquoian peoples in northeastern North America.
• Under centralized political systems, women are
  traditionally most likely to be subordinate to
  men.

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Internalized Control

• Internalized controls are cultural in nature,
  self-imposed by enculturated individuals.
• They rely on personal shame, fear of divine
  punishment, and magical retaliation.

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Externalized Control

• Externalized controls, called sanctions, mix
  cultural and social control.
• Positive sanctions are rewards or recognition by
  others.
• Negative sanctions include threat of
  imprisonment, fines, corporal punishment, or loss
  of face.
• Sanctions are formal, including actual laws, or
  informal, involving norms.

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Laws

• Formal negative sanctions that define
  relationships, prescribe and prohibit behavior
  among a societys members, and allocate authority
  to enforce sanctions.
• In centralized political systems, this authority
  rests with the government and court system,
  whereas uncentralized societies give this
  authority directly to the injured party.

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Crime

• In Western societies, a clear distinction is made
  between offenses against the state and offenses
  against an individual.
• In non-state societies such as bands and tribes,
  all offenses are viewed as transgressions against
  individuals or kin-groups.

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Settling Disputes

• Disputing parties may voluntarily arrive at a
  mutually satisfactory agreement, referred to as
  negotiation or, if it involves the assistance of
  an unbiased third party, mediation.
• In chiefdoms and states, an authorized third
  party may issue a binding decision that the
  disputing parties will be compelled to respect,
  referred to as adjudication.

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Conflict

• Political systems attempt to regulate relations
  between politically autonomous units.
• In doing so they may resort to the use of force.
• The scope of violent conflict is wide, ranging
  from individual fights, local feuds and raids to
  formally declared international wars.
• Some societies engage in defensive wars only and
  avoid armed confrontations with others unless
  seriously threatened or actually attacked.

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