Chapter 12: Political Organization Flashcards
political organization
the way a society maintains order internally and manages affairs externally
political relationships are managed by what 3 things?*
power, authority and prestige
power*
ability to compel another person to do something that they would not do otherwise
coercive power
uses physical force or threat of it (ex- school yard bullying, rape, war)
persuasive power
relies on changing someone’s belief through argumentation using religious or cultural beliefs, offers a reward for compliance
authority*
the use of legitimate power, have the authority to exercise power with the consent of their members (ex- ruler, congress, police force)
prestige*
type of social reward given to a person by others, positive reputation or high regard of a person or other entity merited by actions, wealth, authority or status
“big man”
found throughout Melanesia uses prestige as an informal leader in his community
internalized controls*
maintaining order within groups and in their relations with other groups using a series of controls
controls come from within as part of the society’s cultural values of what is right and wrong
guide a person toward the right behaviour based on a moral system
shame cultures
conformity to social norms stems from wanting to live up to others expectations
guilt cultures
focuses on one’s own sense of right and wrong and the punishment that can result from breaking the rules
externalized controls*
Imposed from the outside
Rules regulate behaviour by encouraging conformity to social norms
Vary in degree from community gossip to the death sentence
sanctions
punishments that result from breaking the rules
may be informally meted out by community members (preventative: grounding teenagers, retributive: spanking a child) or formally enforced by authority figures (fines, prison, exile, death)
uncentralized systems*
have no central governing body, community members impose sanctions on those who break the rules, found in smaller homogeneous societies, informal sanctions operate widely in uncentralized societies
centralized systems*
a ruling body of one or more people is given the authority to govern, occurs in larger heterogeneous societies, governing body creates a formal code of oral or written laws by which the population must abide
cultural materialism
developed by Elman Service, a society’s organization is directly related to whatever adaptations are necessary to survive in its environment,
four types of classification:
tribe
groups with higher population density than bands, horticulturalists or pastoralists living in separate villages spread over a wide area
ranked system
where hereditary positions of status and prestige are passed down within families
sodalities
groups that bring people together through common concerns, age or interests
band
groups of approx. 50 to 100 individuals who rely on hunting and gathering as their main means of subsistence
chiefdom
found in more populous societies where intensive agriculture is practiced, villages linked together by districts, formalized leadership with a chief who is most likely a male and most commonly passed down to his son (patrilineal) or to his sisters son (matrilineal)
state
industrial and heterogeneous, with a strong centralized government, largest populations, formalized central government, written code of laws with punishments, official court system
stratified society
certain members have access to power, authority and prestige while usually the larger group is excluded
social stratification*
the ranking of members of a society into a hierarchy is not a natural feature of social organization
High-ranking members own or have access to more possessions and opportunities than low-ranking members and gain status in the form of power and prestige
May result from colonization
class*
based upon differences in wealth and status
caste*
hierarchical system based on birth, does not allow movement from one group to another (their status is ascribed
ascribed status *
fixed at birth
achieved status*
through work and opportunity people can move up or down classes, based on personal actions
social mobility*
the ability to move upward or downward in social classes
gender stratification
the dominance of men and subordinate status of women in society
gender discrimination*
usually perpretrated as a result from gender stratification
privatization
of water makes it difficult for marginalized and rural people to access clean water
raid
members of one group aim to steal or recover items, animals or people from another group in the same society, usually happens in small horticultural or pastoral societies
feud
ongoing violent relations between two groups in the same society, often begins when one group kills a member of the other group
warfare
larger scale than feud or raid, weapons and transport is more technologically advanced, civil wars may begin
ethnic sectarian violence
occurs when societies divided by ethnicity and religious beliefs explode with tension that has built over time.
reasons for war
Population growth and surpluses of wealth that arise in a stratified society
Competition among state societies for access to resources is high
Diplomacy
Economic sanctions
anthropophagy
(cannibalism) person eating
exo-cannibalism
eating the flesh of those outside one’s own society
