Political Organization

All societies need political organization: a system of leadership, authority and cooperation in order to operate successfully and survive. This program explores four major types of political organization: bands, tribes, chiefdoms and states. It describes the how these systems developed; the types of societies for which they are most well suited; the characteristics that form each type of political organization; and the ways they differ from one another. The program explores the cultures of the !Kung, the Mendi, and the Kpelle as examples of the band, the tribe and the chiefdom respectively; and it traces the development of the state as a political entity characterized by centralized power, a code of law and the authority to use coercion to impose that law. In addition, explores the concept of legitimacy & coercion as they apply to the state. Through an examination of the theocratic government of Tibet, it describes complications inherent in the survival of the modern state.