4/21/2009. Chapter 12. Politics = Power. Kinds Of Political Systems. Types of power. Centralized systems. Politics, Power, and Violence

Transcription

1 Chapter 12 Politics, Power, and Violence Politics = Power Types of power Persuasion Negotiation Obligation Coercion Kinds Of Political Systems Uncentralized systems Bands Tribes Centralized systems s States 1

2 Number of people Settlement pattern Band Dozens and up Mobile Tribe State Hundreds and up Thousands and up Tens of thousands and up Mobile or fixed: 1 or more villages Fixed: 1 or more villages Fixed: Many villages and cities Types Of Political Organization: Basis of relationships Ethnicities and languages Band Kin 1 Tribe Kin, descent groups 1 Kin, rank and residence 1 State Class and residence 1 or more 2

3 Government Decision making, leadership Bureaucracy Band Egalitarian None Tribe Egalitarian or Big- Man Centralized, hereditary None None, or 1 or 2 levels State Centralized Many levels Government Conflict resolution Hierarchy of settlement Band Informal No Tribe Informal No Centralized No Paramount village or head town State Laws, judges Capital Economy Division of labor Exchanges Exchanges Band No Reciprocal Tribe No Reciprocal State No -> Yes Yes Redistributive ( tribute ) Redistributive ( taxes ) 3

4 Society Stratified Slavery Band No No Tribe No No State Yes, ranked by kin Yes, by class or caste Some small-scale Some large-scale Society Luxury goods for elite Indigenous literacy Band No No Tribe No No Yes No ->Some State Yes Often 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. 4

5 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. Tribes Shown here is a meeting of the Navajo Tribal Council, a nontraditional governing body created in response to requirements set by the U.S. government in order for the Navajo to exercise national sovereignty. 5

6 The Big Man This Big Man from New Guinea is wearing his official regalia. s 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. s A Kpelle town chief in Liberia, West Africa, listens to a dispute in his district. Settling disputes is one of several ongoing traditional tasks that fall to paramount chiefs among Kpelle people. 6

7 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. A Nation without a State The Kurds, most of whom live in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, are an example of a nation without a state. 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. 7

8 Gender and Politics Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf inspects members of the Liberian police after taking the presidential oath in January The first female president on the African continent, Sirleaf is a Harvard-educated economist who took the world by surprise when she won the head office in her war-torn and povertystricken country. Social Control and Law Folkways minor sanctions for not behaving Mores Slightly more serious offenses Law Most serious offenses. Attributes of Law Authority who carries out the law Universal application similar crimes have similar punishments Legal sanction negative ways you get people to conform 8

9 Types of Law Substantive law who carries out the law and who carries out the punishment Criminal Civil Procedural Law how law was broken and how will it be resolved Legal Systems 2 Levels of procedural law Self-help legal system ad hoc system No formal court or jury Familial or mediator Court legal system Settled in institutions and organizations, not by families Courts of mediation Courts of regularion Song Duels Having a song duel is the traditional approach to dispute resolution among the Inuit of northern Canada. 9

10 Child Soldiers Today, there are more than 250,000 child soldiers, many as young as 12 years old. Among them are these boys training to be guerrillas in Sahel, Eritrea. Warfare in Multinational States 10