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Chapter 23
Politics, Power, and Violence
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How Are Power and Political
Organizations Different?
 How Are Social and Political Order
Formed and Maintained?
 How Do Political Systems Obtain
Popular Support?

Power and Political
Organization
Power is known as the ability of
individuals or groups to impose their
will upon others and make them do
things even against their own wants or
wishes.
 Political organization is the way that
power is distributed and embedded in
society; the means by which a society
creates and maintains social order.
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Kinds of Political Systems
Every society will have some form of
political organization usually
uncentralized or centralized.
 Uncentralized systems
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Bands
 Tribes
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Centralized systems
Chiefdoms
 States

Band Organization
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Band- small group of loosely organized kinordered group that inhabits a specific
territory and that may split periodically into
smaller extended family groups that are
politically independent.
The least complicated and oldest form of
political organization.
Found among nomadic societies.
Small and egalitarian, numbering at most a
few hundred people.
Bands
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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.
May have leaders if a person hold an ability to
serve all in the group. They hold no real power.
Tribal Organization
Tribes- refer to a range of kin-ordered
groups that are politically integrated by
some unifying factor and whole members
share a common ancestry, identity, culture,
language, and territory.
 Economy based on crop cultivation or
herding.

Tribes
Population densities generally exceed
1 person per square mile up to 250
people per square mile.
 Leadership among tribes is informal.
 Political authority may lie with the
clan, here clan elders or headmen
regulate affairs.
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Chiefdoms
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A chiefdom is 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.
The office of the chief is usually for life and
often hereditary.
Passing from man to son or sisters son
depending on lineage descent pattern.
Chiefdoms
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The chief’s authority serves to unite his
people in all affairs and at all times.
Usually the chief controls the economic
activities including redistributive systems.
May attain a large amount of material
wealth which can be used to show and
maintain status as chief.
State System
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The state, in anthropology, is a centralized
polity involving large numbers of people
within a defined territory who are divided
into social classes and organized and
directed by a formal government that has
the capacity and authority to make laws and
use force to defend social order.
The most formal of political organizations.
Commonly referred to as a civilization.
State
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Political power is centralized in a
government.
Since the first state appeared about 5,000
years ago, they have shown a tendency
toward instability.
Not to be confused with a nation which is a
people who share a collective identity based
on a common culture, language, territory,
and history.
Political Systems &
Legitimacy
Legitimacy in the political sense is
the idea that certain leaders have the
right to govern, to hold, use, and
allocate power based on the values of
a particular society.
 Legitimacy will vary cross culturally
but it is an established right that a
person(s) must obtain.
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Political Leadership and
Gender
Women have enjoyed political equality with
men in a number of societies:
 There are many modern day countries
which hold women as their highest political
leaders.
 Iroquoian tribes of New York State – women
elect men to high positions in office and can
also remove them if they chose.
 Igbo of Nigeria - women held positions that
paralleled and balanced that of the men.
Internalized Controls
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Many cultures have rules or laws that are
not necessarily “written” rather, “internal
beliefs”
Beliefs that are self-imposed by individuals.
Cultural controls or control through beliefs
and values that are deeply ingrained in the
minds of each member of the culture.
These can act as control mechanisms for
how member should act as opposed to
social control or forced governmental
control.
Internalized Controls
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Punishments for actions against the culture
might include the fear of shame, divine
punishment, and magical retaliation.
Although bands and tribes rely heavily upon
them, they are typically insufficient by
themselves. Therefore most societies will
develop externalized controls.
Externalized Controls
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In order to maintain order, externalized
controls are generally sanctionedexternalized social control designed to
encourage conformity to social norms.
Mix of cultural and social control.
Positive sanctions reward appropriate
behavior whereas, negative sanctions
punish behavior.
Social Control by Witchcraft
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Among societies with or without centralized
political systems the usage of witchcraft
may often be employed to act as a social
control mechanism.
This may be either internally or externally.
These types of groups will generally have a
strong respect and fear of the misuse of
witchcraft, thus making it a great tool for
social control.
Functions of Law
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The law is comprised of formal rules of conduct
that, when violated, effectuate negative
sanctions.
There are three basic 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.
Crime
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In Western societies crime is viewed
as either an act against the state or
an individual.
In non-state societies it is viewed as
acts against kin-groups or individuals.
Disputes or actions against crime can
be settles in a few different ways.

Negotiation, mediation, adjudication
Settling Disputes
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Negotiation- The use of direct argument
and compromise by the parties to a dispute
to arrive voluntarily at a mutually
satisfactory agreement.
Mediation- Settlement of a dispute through
negotiation assisted by an unbiased third
party.
Adjudication- Mediation with an unbiased
third party making the ultimate decision.
War
Over the past 5,000 years it is
estimated that humans have created
and fought over 14,000 wars.
 Reasons for war vary entirely upon
the society in which it is found. Each
group will have its own objectives,
motives, methods, and scale of
warfare.
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Why War?
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Some anthropologists might argue that war
is a reflection of the aggressive nature of
the human male.
Others will suggest it is situation specific as
opposed to an unavoidable expression of
biological determination towards
aggression.
Perhaps it is safer to assume warfare as a
result of misunderstanding and culture
clash.
Suggested Activity
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Have the class attempt to compile a list of
examples of internalized control in their society.
Have them compare this to a general list of
externalized control in their society (one they
make or you).
Organize students into small groups and then
write their examples on the board for
discussion.
Make comparisons of our society to other’s they
may have learned about so far in the class.
Or have students discuss their reactions to
control mechanisms they may not have realized
occurred in their society.