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This part of the book explores the concepts of politics, power, and violence and how they contribute to the formation and maintenance of social and political order. It examines different types of political systems and their governance, economy, and societal aspects. The role of law, gender, and cultural controls, as well as the methods for settling disputes, are also discussed.
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Part 7The 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
Chapter Outline • How are power and political organizations different? • How are social and political order formed and maintained? • How do political systems obtain popular support?
Kinds Of Political Systems • Uncentralized systems • Bands • Tribes • Centralized systems • Chiefdoms • States
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.
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.
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: • Negotiation - the parties to the dispute reach an agreement with or without the help of a third party. • Adjudication - An authorized third party issues a binding decision.
