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Political Systems Kot16988 Ch08 182-209.Indd Page 184 1/9/10 12:16:39 AM User-F470 /Volumes/202/MHSF174/Kot16988/0078116988/Kot16988 Pagefiles kot16988_ch08_182-209.indd Page 183 1/9/10 5:46:06 PM f-469 /Volumes/202/MHSF174/kot16988/0078116988/kot16988_pagefiles Political Systems kot16988_ch08_182-209.indd Page 184 1/9/10 12:16:39 AM user-f470 /Volumes/202/MHSF174/kot16988/0078116988/kot16988_pagefiles WHAT IS “THE POLITICAL”? TYPES AND TRENDS BANDS AND TRIBES Foraging Bands OURSELVES Tribal Cultivators understanding The Village Head ou’ve probably heard the expres- erous with their supporters. Payback may take The “Big Man” chapter outline sion “Big Man on Campus” used to the form of a night in the Lincoln bedroom, an Pantribal Sodalities and describe a collegian who is very invitation to a strategic dinner, an ambassador- Age Grades well-known and/or popular. One ship, or largesse to a particular area of the Nomadic Politics Y website (www.ehow.com/how_2112834_be- country. Tribal big men amass wealth and then CHIEFDOMS big-man-campus.html) offers advice about give away pigs. Successful American politicians Political and Economic how to become a BMOC. According to that also dish out “pork.” Systems in Chiefdoms site, helpful attributes include lots of friends, a As with the big man, eloquence and com- Social Status in cool car, a hip wardrobe, a nice smile, a sports munication skills contribute to political suc- Chiefdoms connection, and a sense of humor. “Big man” cess (e.g., Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Status Systems in has a different but related meaning in anthro- Ronald Reagan), although lack of such skills Chiefdoms and States pology. Many indigenous cultures of the South isn’t necessarily fatal (e.g., either President Stratifi cation Pacifi c had a kind of political fi gure that anthro- Bush). What about physical fi tness? Hair, STATES pologists call the “big man.” Such a leader height, health (and even a nice smile) are cer- Population Control achieved his status through hard work, amass- tainly political advantages. Bravery, as demon- Judiciary ing wealth in the form of pigs and other native strated through distinguished military service, Enforcement riches. Characteristics that distinguished the may help political careers, but it certainly isn’t Fiscal Systems big man from his fellows, enabling him to at- required. Nor does it guarantee success. Just tract loyal supporters (aka lots of friends), in- ask John McCain, John Kerry, or Wesley Clark. SOCIAL CONTROL cluded wealth, generosity, eloquence, physical Supernatural powers? Candidates who pro- Hegemony fi tness, bravery, and supernatural powers. claim themselves atheists are as rare as self- Weapons of the Weak Those who became big men did so because of identified witches. Almost all political Politics, Shame, and their personalities rather than by inheriting candidates claim to belong to a mainstream Sorcery their wealth or position. religion. Some even present their policies as Do any of the factors that make for a suc- promoting God’s will. cessful big man (or BMOC, for that matter) con- However, contemporary politics isn’t just tribute to political success in a modern nation about personality, as it is in big man systems. such as the United States? Although American We live in a state-organized, stratifi ed society politicians often use their own wealth, inher- with inherited wealth, power, and privilege, all ited or created, to fi nance campaigns, they also of which have political implications. As is typi- solicit labor and monetary contributions (rather cal of states, inheritance and kin connections than pigs) from supporters. And, like big men, play a role in political success. Just think of successful American politicians try to be gen- Kennedys, Bushes, Gores, Clintons, and Doles. WHAT IS “THE POLITICAL”? cludes nonstates as well as the states and Anthropologists and political scientists nation-states usually studied by political share an interest in political systems and scientists. Anthropological studies have organization, but the anthropological ap- revealed substantial variation in power proach is global and comparative, and in- (formal and informal), authority, and legal kot16988_ch08_182-209.indd Page 185 1/9/10 12:16:40 AM user-f470 /Volumes/202/MHSF174/kot16988/0078116988/kot16988_pagefiles On August 29, 2009 in New York City, supporters of Health Care Reform demonstrate for a public option. Citizens routinely use collective action to infl uence public policy. Have your own actions ever infl uenced public policy? systems in different societies and communities. the regulation or management of interrelations (Power is the ability to exercise one’s will over among groups and their representatives. In a gen- others; authority is the socially approved use of eral sense, regulation is the process that ensures power.) (See Cheater, ed. 1999; Gledhill 2000; that variables stay within their normal ranges, Kurtz 2001; Wolf with Silverman 2001.) corrects deviations from the norm, and thus main- Recognizing that political organization is tains a system’s integrity. In the case of political sometimes just an aspect of social organization, regulation, this includes such things as decision Morton Fried offered this defi nition: making, social control, and confl ict resolution. The study of political regulation draws our atten- Political Organization comprises those tion to those who make decisions and resolve portions of social organization that specifi - confl icts (are there formal leaders?). cally relate to the individuals or groups that Ethnographic and archaeological studies in manage the affairs of public policy or seek to hundreds of places have revealed many correla- control the appointment or activities of those tions between economy and social and political individuals or groups. (Fried 1967, pp. 20–21) organization. This defi nition certainly fi ts contemporary North America. Under “individuals or groups that manage the affairs of public policy” come federal, state (provincial), and local (municipal) TYPES AND TRENDS governments. Those who seek to control the ac- Decades ago, the anthropologist Elman Service tivities of the groups that manage public policy (1962) listed four types, or levels, of political orga- include such interest groups as political parties, nization: band, tribe, chiefdom, and state. Today, unions, corporations, consumers, activists, action none of these political entities (polities) can be committees, religious groups, and nongovern- studied as a self-contained form of political orga- mental organizations (NGOs). nization, since all exist within nation-states and Fried’s defi nition is much less applicable to are subject to state control. There is archaeological nonstates, where it was often diffi cult to detect evidence for early bands, tribes, and chiefdoms any “public policy.” For this reason, I prefer to that existed before the fi rst states appeared. How- speak of sociopolitical organization in discussing ever, since anthropology came into being long Chapter 8 Political Systems 185 kot16988_ch08_182-209.indd Page 186 1/9/10 12:16:41 AM user-f470 /Volumes/202/MHSF174/kot16988/0078116988/kot16988_pagefiles after the origin of the state, anthropologists have tems and institutions. Nevertheless, Service’s ty- never been able to observe “in the fl esh” a band, pology does highlight some signifi cant contrasts tribe, or chiefdom outside the infl uence of some in political organization, especially those between state. All the bands, tribes, and chiefdoms known states and nonstates. For example, in bands and to ethnography have been within the borders of a tribes—unlike states, which have clearly visible state. There still may be local political leaders (e.g., governments—political organization did not village heads) and regional fi gures (e.g., chiefs) of stand out as separate and distinct from the total the sort discussed in this chapter, but all exist and social order. In bands and tribes, it was diffi cult to function within the context of state organization. characterize an act or event as political rather than A band refers to a small kin-based group (all the merely social. members are related to each other by kinship or Service’s labels “band,” “tribe,” “chiefdom,” tribe marriage ties) found among foragers. Tribes had and “state” are categories or types within a socio- Food-producing society economies based on nonintensive food produc- political typology. These types are correlated with with rudimentary tion (horticulture and pastoralism). Living in vil- the adaptive strategies (economic typology) dis- political structure. lages and organized into kin groups based on cussed in the chapter “Making a Living.” Thus, common descent (clans and lineages), tribes foragers (an economic type) tended to have band lacked a formal government and had no reliable organization (a sociopolitical type). Similarly, means of enforcing political decisions. Chiefdom many horticulturalists and pastoralists lived in refers to a form of sociopolitical organization in- tribal societies (or, more simply, tribes). Although termediate between the tribe and the state. In most chiefdoms had farming economies, herding chiefdoms, social relations were based mainly on was important in some Middle Eastern chief- kinship, marriage, descent, age, generation, and doms. Nonindustrial states usually had an agri- gender—just as they were in bands and tribes. Al- cultural base. though chiefdoms were kin-based, they featured With food production came larger, denser pop- differential access to resources (some people had ulations and more complex economies than was more wealth, prestige, and power than
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