POLITICAL AND

LEADERSHIP
STRUCTURE

DANILO F. MARIBAO
PALIPARAN III SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
DASMARINAS CITY, CAVITE
 Political Organizations
► politicalorganization refers to the way
power is distributed and embedded in
societies
► who has power
► how does power differ from authority
► how is power organized and administered
► How is order maintained
► How is conflict organized
 Political organizations and the
maintenance of order
► Social
control needed for people to live
together

► Ostracism - banning a person from a group

► Judiciary systems
 Power
► Potency, capability, charisma (individual)
► Ability of person to impose its will in social action
upon another
► Tactical or organizational power -- The
instrumentalities through which individuals or
groups direct or circumscribe the actions of others
► Structural power – power that organizes and
orchestrates the settings themselves & that
specifies the direction & distribution of energy
flows
 distinction between power and
authority
► power: ability to bring about results
 power may be informal and based on force
 coercive power versus persuasive power
 Symbolic power based on positive expectations
of those who accede to it
► authority is the socially recognized right to
exert power
► legitimacy - the socially recognized right to
hold, use, and allocate power
 3 Types of Legitimate Rule
(Weber)
► charismatic
authority (character, heroism, leadership, r
eligious),
► traditional authority (patriarchs,
patrimonialism, feudalism) and
► Legal-rational authority (modern law
and state, bureaucracy).
 Early Evolutionary Scheme Matched
with Subsistence Strategies
► band, tribe, chiefdom, state (Elman Service)
 foragers, horticulturalists, agriculturalists,
industrialists
► different types of political organization
related to
 subsistence strategy
 population density and heterogeneity
 degree of hierarchy and social stratification
 presence of bounded territory
 degree of formalization of rule
 Band, Tribe, Chiefdom, State

►sequence can be replaced with

contrast between uncentralized and
centralized political systems
►Replace evolutionary perspective
with:
 ethnographic present
 historical perspective
 Bands and Tribes:
Uncentralized political systems
►associated with:
 subsistence level economies such as
foraging
 small, homogeneous populations
 little social stratification
 relatively autonomous groups
 often relatively mobile without strict
territorial boundaries
 formal leader or organization beyond
kinship rare
 Chiefdom & State: Centralized
political systems
► associated with:
 intensive agricultural or industrialization
► technology becomes more complicated
► labour specialization increases

 large, diverse population

 less mobility
 opportunity for control of resources appears
 appearance of coercive force
► Wolf’s 3rd modality
 male leaders more frequent
 political authority is concentrated in a single individual
(chiefdoms) or a body of individuals (the state)
 The Band
►small group of politically independent,
though related, households
►all social relationships based on kinship
►least complex form of political
organization
►associated with foraging forms of
subsistence
►decisions made through consensus
►no fixed leadership, only informal
recognition of prowess
 The Tribe
►tribalsystem consists of separate
bands or villages
►integrated through lineages, clans,
age grades, or other associations
cross-cutting kinship and territory
►associated with farming or herding
subsistence strategies
►greater population density
 The Tribe
►no centralized leadership
►typically someone respected for
wisdom or prowess – charisma
& “big men”
►group decisions by consensus
 The tribe
►leaders of localized descent groups or
a territorial group
►authority is personal
 not elected, no formal office
 status result of personal behavior
►statusoften achieved through
exchange
 Gift exchange
 Redistribution – public exchange of scarce
resources
 Tribes and Lineages
► maximal lineages (tribes)
► major lineages (families)
► minor lineages (fathers' houses)
► minimal lineages (extended
patrilocal households)
 Chiefdom
►a regional society in which one
or more local groups are
organized under a single ruling
individual – the chief – who is at
the head of a ranked hierarchy
of people
 The Chief
►Divine king – macrocosm and
microcosm
►status determined by closeness to chief
►office of chief often hereditary
 passing to son or to sister’s son
►also based on talents
►often conceived as a semi-sacred position

►may accumulate personal wealth to

add to power
Nana Osei Tutu II Copyright© PT Sangga Sarana
The King of Ashanti Persada, 1997-2000
Photo credit: G. F. Kojo Arthur Designed by Sangga Web Team
Centre for Indigenous
Knowledge Systems
 Chiefdom
►a true authority figure with a formal office
► can distribute resources
 associated with redistributive economies
 chief controls surpluses and labour
 may collect taxes or tribute
 may recruit labour for community projects
► irrigation, a temple, a palace
 can conscript for military
► recognized hierarchy linked to chief
► tend to be unstable
► may form confederacies
 Iroquois League of Five Nation, Algonquin Confederacy
 chiefdom
► Rank society
► do not have unequal access to economic resources
or to power, but they do contain social groups
having unequal access to prestige
► unequal access to prestige often reflected in
position of chief to which only some members of a
specified group in the society can succeed
► Ascribed status
 Band & tribe vs. chiefdom
► in band and tribal societies competitive
displays & conspicuous consumption by
individuals disappears & anyone foolish
enough to boast how great he is gets
accused of witchcraft & is stoned to death
► mutual benefit predominates, not
redistribution
 the state
► the most formal of political organizations
and is one of the hallmarks of civilization
► political power is centralized in a
government which may LEGITIMATELY use
force to regulate the affairs of its citizens
► Weber’s monopoly on the legitimate use of
force
 The state: associated with --
► increased food production (agriculture and
industry)
► irrigation and transformation of landscape
► increased population
► fixed territory
► developed market system
► appearance of cities developed urban sector
 The state: associated with --
► appearance of bureaucracy
► military
► usuallyan official religion
► delegation of authority to maintain order
 within and without its borders
► rightto control information
► authority is formal and impersonal
 Holding office and the person
 The state: associated with --
► differentiation in population appears – social
stratification
► appearance of ethnicity
► permanent, heritable inequality
 slaves, castes and classes
► social conflict increases
 original states appeared 5000 years
ago
► primary states are agricultural
► theories about their formation
► military needs, irrigation needs,
environmental conditions
 why the state? from band to state
► more wealth
► more people
► more settled
► more inequality and ranking
► less reliance on kinship
► more internal and external conflict
► increased power and responsibility to leaders
► increased burden to citizens to support political
organization
► increased use of formal, legal structures for
adjudication
 The Nation (-State)
► modern nation-state a more recent phenomenon
 most have appeared since the end of WWII
► communities of people who see themselves as
“one people” on the basis of common ancestry,
history, society, institutions, ideology, language,
territory, and (often) religion
► anthropology questions this reality while
recognizing the power of the idea
► differences are suppressed in modern nation-
states
 NATION & NATIONALITY
► nation was once a term that referred to
tribe, indigenous people, or ethnic group -
collectivity sharing single language, religion,
history, territory, ancestry, kinship (Herder
& volk)
► nation comes to mean the state = a country
► a sociopolitical form, the modern state
composed of diverse ethnic groups
Nation as “Imagined Community”
► "itis imagined because the members of
even the smallest nation will never know
most of their fellow members, meet them,
or even hear of them, yet in the minds of
each lives the image of their communion"
(Anderson p.15)
 imagined community
►A community that “imagines” itself
 No possibility of face-to-face communication
 Moments of simultaneity
 Language & “print capitalism”
 Monuments and memorials
► Anthropology questions this reality while
recognizing the power of the idea
 Differences are marked and suppressed in
modern nation-states
 A form of amnesia?
 The Nation, Social Structure &
National Identity
► based upon sentiments of prestige
 extend deep into the masses of political
structures (located in the field of politics)
► groups
who hold the power to steer
common conduct within a polity
 will most strongly instill themselves with this
ideal fervor of power prestige
► Those who think of themselves as being
specific partners of a specific culture
diffused among members of the polity
The State, The Nation, and Ethnicity

► 181 states but 5000 nations?

► idea that nation and state coincide is rare
► The appearance of ethnicity and the rise of the
nation-state
► (Nash) nation-state responsible for the rise and
definition of social entities called ethnic groups -
last 500 years
 grew out of the wreck of empires, breakups of
civilizations - disruptions of mechanic societies
 within borders of nation-state - social and cultural
diversity
 Political Organization and Ethnicity

► ethnicity is founded upon structural

inequities among dissimilar groups into a
single political entity
► based on cultural differences & similarities
perceived as shared
► identification with & feeling a part of an
ethnic group & exclusion from certain other
groups because of this affiliation
 Assimilation & Nation Building
► increase in shared characteristics among
social groups and an increasing social
homogeneity are a key to nation building
► erasure of differences (in ethnicity, cognitive
orientations, patterns of social interactions,
etc.) for the creation of a cohesive,
productive, just and affluent society
► various communication media assume an
important role in providing information that
facilitates key transformations in individuals
and communities
 Pluri-Ethnic States
► Pluralist
model treats groups as permanent and
enduring
 Group rights
► Cosmopolitan model that accepts shifting
boundaries, multiple affiliations, hybrid identities
 Individual rights
► Accommodation of immigrant ethnicity
► Minority nationalism – nations within (indigenous
peoples and Québécois)
 Stateless nations, ethnic nationalism vs. indigenous
groups
► Nations within – groups that formed complete and
functioning societies on their historic homeland
before being incorporated into a larger state
► Typically been involuntary – colonization, conquest, etc.
 indigeneity
► Nations within – groups that formed
complete and functioning societies on their
historic homeland before being incorporated
into a larger state
► Typically been involuntary – colonization,
conquest, etc.
► Indigenous groups around the world
 Drive for recognition of rights
 Sovereignty and self-governance