Political Organization, is a prerequisite for the survival of a group of people. To be effective,
group activities must have leadership and organization, which are the basis for political structure.
Political Organization manages the collective economic and social activities as well as relations
with other groups of people. All societies have some form of political organization. A band is a
small, autonomous group of made up of nuclear families that live together and are loosely allied
by marriage, descent, friendship, and common interest. A band political structure is typically
found amongst societies with a hunter- gather economy. There is a horizontal status and power
relationship in bands between all adults of the same gender. However, some individuals in a
band stand out for their skills and knowledge. These often are the people who have the best
memories, are the best hunters, most successful curers, most gifted speakers, or have some other
special ability. Such people become informal leaders. Most often they are given authority by
community consensus arrived at through casual discussion without the need for a formal vote.
Band leaders generally have temporary political power at best, and they do not have any
significant authority relative to other adults. They can give advice and propose action, but they
do not have the formal authority to force others to accept their decisions. These simple bands are
economically self-sufficient and politically autonomous. The second of the major forms of
political structure is the tribe. A tribe is of the order of a large collection of bands, but it is not
simply a collection of bands. Leadership is personal-charismatic and for special purposes only in
tribal society, there are no political offices containing real power, and a chief is merely a man of
influence, a sort of adviser. Technically, the tribe is a group of bands. The tribe is, of course, a
larger society tied together by familiar bonds. Tribes commonly have village headmen who
perform leadership roles, but these individuals have relatively limited authority. Political power
stems largely from their senior position within kin groups and their ability to persuade others into
doing what they want. Public opinion also plays a major role in decision making. It is true that
the priests, religious leaders and warriors would listen to various opinions before making
decisions, but government was not necessarily by consensus. They would and do think in terms
of what is good for the whole when leadership considers a decision. So they balance the need for
leadership and their tribal ways of thinking. The third form of political organization is the
chiefdom. Chiefdoms are societies headed by individuals with unusual ritual, political, or
entrepreneurial skills. The society is kin-based but more along hierarchical lines than a tribe.
Chiefdoms are associated with greater population density and display signs of social ranking.
Chiefdoms have formal, hereditary leadership with centralized political control and authority.
The associated redistributive economic exchange system focused on the chief economically
integrates the various communities within the political unit. Chiefdoms have some formal
structure integrating multi-community political units. The formal structure could consist of a
council with or without a chief, but most commonly there is a person-the chief-who has higher
rank and authority than others. The position of chief, which is sometimes hereditary and
generally permanent, bestows high status on its holder. Chiefdoms can be divided into ones that
take on a more simple, kin-based organization and those that are more complex where there is a
more developed regional hierarchy with a paramount chief and lesser chiefdoms. The simpler
form has centralized decision making for better mobilization of manpower and exploitation of
resources than is possible in a tribal form of society. The more complex chiefdom has a greater
measure of authority but still lacks a bureaucracy to administer food surpluses nor to distribute
and store resources. State is the most complex level of Political Organization. States have
centralized power and control, but the characteristic of a state is a bureaucracy, individuals acting
on behalf of the political elite, thus enabling the centralized power figures to maintain control of
a greater number of individuals. It is an autonomous political unit, encompassing many
communities within its territory and having a centralized government with the power to collect
taxes, draft men for work or war, and enforce laws. It is the notion of a centralized government
that distinguishes the state from the decentralized type political organization. States represent
highly complex organizational structures that function to control large societies. They are
associated with large territories, administrative bureaucracies, a high degree of specialization,
and large, dense populations. States represent a major departure from earlier kin-based societies.
A non-kin-based relationship between rulers and those who are ruled marks a state as a major
departure from other forms of societies.