Deck 12: The Organization of Political Life

Question 1

In general, the ____ the population, the ____ the political organization.

A) smaller; more complex
B) more complex; smaller
C) larger; more complex
D) larger; less complex

Answer 1

larger; more complex

Question 2

Which of these is NOT one of the four basic forms of political organization mentioned in the text?

A) Tribe
B) Band
C) Sodality
D) Chiefdom

Answer 2

Sodality

Question 3

Political systems

A) are fairly simple to sort by type or category.
B) overlap fairly precisely with specific culture groups or societies.
C) organize and direct the collective actions of the population.
D) are not generally of much interest to cultural anthropologists.

Answer 3

organize and direct the collective actions of the population.

Question 4

The oldest and least complex form of political organization is the

A) tribe.
B) band.
C) state.
D) chiefdom.

Question 5

Which of these is NOT characteristic of most bands?

A) Formal leadership
B) Mobility
C) Foraging
D) Small populations

Question 6

Simple bands

A) were male dominated.
B) had names that came from features in their territory.
C) practiced endogamous marriage.
D) used voting and other democratic methods for decision making.

Question 7

How are composite bands different from simple bands?

A) Composite bands have no leadership at all.
B) Composite bands are smaller than simple bands.
C) Composite bands are less mobile than simple bands.
D) Composite bands are made up of unrelated extended families.

Question 8

Who were big men?

A) Tribal leaders
B) Leaders of simple bands
C) The chiefs who also had religious authority
D) Leaders of composite bands of unrelated extended families

Question 9

Which of these statements about the Comanche of the Great Plains of the United States is FALSE?

A) Within the band, decisions were arrived at by consensus.
B) Disagreements could be resolved by changes in band affiliation.
C) Candidates for the position of "peace chief" were selected on the basis of descent.
D) Great warriors had little influence outside of the activities of raiding and warfare.

Question 10

How do tribes differ from bands?

A) Tribes have formally organized institutions that unite scattered communities.
B) People in tribes are generally unrelated to each other.
C) Tribes tend to have a great deal of inequality among members.
D) In tribes, political power rests mostly in the hands of "big men."

Question 11

Which of these is NOT a characteristic of most tribes?

A) Leadership depends on the persuasive abilities of an individual.
B) Positions of authority within a tribe are hereditary.
C) There is little economic specialization within tribes.
D) Cohesiveness among villages is based on shared identity and kinship.

Question 12

The Cheyenne were a ____ of the Great Plains in the United States who came together once every summer to perform ceremonies and hunt bison.

A) band
B) tribe
C) chiefdom
D) state

Question 13

How does a chiefdom differ from a tribe?

A) A chiefdom has a bureaucratic government.
B) A chiefdom is egalitarian.
C) A chiefdom is a ranked society with a hereditary chief.
D) Political power in a chiefdom is highly decentralized.

Question 14

In a chiefdom, governing is done by

A) decree.
B) consensus.
C) democratic vote.
D) sodality.

Question 15

Which of these are characteristic of the chiefdom of Tahiti?

A) An economy based on pastoralism
B) A set of inherited ranks of chiefs
C) Chiefs with limited secular power only
D) Either shared or communally owned property

Question 16

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Some societies do not have any form of political system.
B) Leadership in chiefdoms is vested in "big men."
C) The boundary of a polity corresponds with its cultural boundary.
D) States are characterized by having a bureaucracy.

Question 17

Within all state political systems

A) the leaders are considered descendants of gods.
B) leaders justify their authority by claiming to be chosen by God.
C) a bureaucracy carries out the day to day functioning of the government.
D) the polity elects the leadership.

Question 18

Which of these is NOT generally characteristic of a state society?

A) Day-to-day governing carried out by a bureaucracy
B) A multi-ethnic population
C) A market economy
D) A leader descended from God or chosen by God

Question 19

The Incan Empire was governed by a political state. Each of the following is true of the Incan state government EXCEPT it

A) organized land and labor by levying a tax on production.
B) effectively integrated a large population into a political unit.
C) conducted a periodic census.
D) did not have a writing system for communication or a monetary system for exchange.

Question 20

Each of the following is a form of social control EXCEPT

A) court of negotiation.
B) gossip and ostracism.
C) fear of sorcery or witchcraft.
D) court of regulation.

Question 21

A serious drawback to a court of mediation is that

A) all of the parties involved must share the same norms and values.
B) it is inherently unfair since the judge is not involved in the case.
C) it is difficult to protect the guilty party from retribution by the victim's relatives.
D) judges tend to play favorites and pass down rulings arbitrarily.

Question 22

The primary objective of a multinational corporation is to

A) benefit the economic interests of the country in which it is located.
B) earn money and pay taxes to the local and state government to support services.
C) make profits for the owners, who are stockholders or investors.
D) support the governments of the countries involved in the production process.

Question 23

In most or virtually all societies, law includes

A) a formalized legal system.
B) a publicly recognized authority to settle a case.
C) a flexible system of individualized sanction even in identical cases.
D) the application of sanctions involving physical force.

Question 24

Among the Comanche, the system for resolving a case of wife-stealing may require the plaintiff to ask for assistance from a number of different people, including a war chief if necessary. This system is an example of which type of legal system?

A) The mediator form of self-help systems
B) The familial form of self-help systems
C) An incipient court system
D) A court system

Question 25

The Nuer, a pastoral tribe in Sudan, rely on ____ to serve as a mediator in feuds between local groups, often in cases of violence leading to death.

A) a powerful war leader
B) the Council of Forty-Four
C) a man with ritual power to curse or bless but no secular authority
D) a judge in a court of mediation

Question 26

How is a court legal system different from a self-help legal system?

A) In a court system, the authority lies with the victim and his/her family.
B) Court systems only exist in chiefdoms and state societies.
C) There are no standardized practices in a court system.
D) A court system can only handle criminal cases, not personal or civil cases.

Question 27

As societies become increasingly complex, the primary focus of courts moves from

A) mediating disputes to regulating behavior.
B) regulating behavior to mediating disputes.
C) prevention of disputes to resolution of disputes.
D) resolution of disputes to prevention of disputes.

Question 28

Within the tribal-level society of the Cheyenne, the Council of Forty-Four and groups of warriors would sometimes act as de facto judges and courts. This in an example of a(an)

A) court of mediation.
B) self-help legal system.
C) incipient court system.
D) court of regulation.

Question 29

Which of these statements about courts of regulation is NOT true?

A) The laws are based on consistency and precedent rather than on shared social norms.
B) The goal of courts of regulation is to reconcile the parties to a dispute.
C) Courts of regulation are found in states with heterogeneous populations.
D) Laws can be used to benefit only some segments of the society.

Question 30

Which of these is characteristic of courts of mediation?

A) Arbitrariness due to lack of codified laws to follow
B) The use of community leaders as mediators
C) The application of a reasonable-person model
D) The application of harsh sanctions for non-compliance

Question 31

The boundaries of a polity, a politically organized group, do not necessarily coincide with a particular culture.

Question 32

A political system must have positions of authority.

Question 33

Within a tribe, few (if any) positions are inherited, and the group is largely egalitarian.

Question 34

Most chiefdoms were associated with foraging and pastoralist societies.

Question 35

In Tahitian society, whatever was touched by sacred chiefs became tabu and could not be used by others for fear of supernatural punishment.

Question 36

Both chiefdoms and states have a centralized political structure and an internal bureaucracy.

Question 37

The administrative system of the Inca was incorporated into the colonial government of Peru.

Question 38

If a society does not have a formalized legal system, it cannot have laws that govern behavior.

Question 39

Simple band societies do not need any mechanisms for maintaining social control.

Question 40

Supernatural sanctions can be a form of social control.

Question 41

National governments have the power to regulate all of the activities of multinational corporations that do business in their countries.

Question 42

Law has existed in virtually all societies.

Question 43

Courts of mediation are only effective in culturally homogeneous contexts.

Question 44

Among the Cheyene, all forms of killing were considered murder and crimes against society.

Question 45

In state societies and courts of regulation, laws are the outgrowth of shared values and norms.

Question 46

Define what is meant by political organization and social control. Explain why these systems are necessary within societies.

Question 47

Describe the political organization of simple and composite bands. Explain what factors contribute to the differences between the two types.

Question 48

Explain how chiefdoms and states differ from tribal and band societies.

Question 49

Describe the three categories of court systems: incipient, mediation, and regulation. Give examples of each.

Question 50

Discuss the relationship between the type of society, economic system, and form of political organization.