Deck 10: Political Organization

Question 1

The "bigman" as a form of leadership is associated with:

A)Increasing food production and redistribution.
B)Decreasing food production and reciprocity.
C)Occupational specialization and market exchange.
D)Population decline and cultural disintegration.
E)Communal living and socialism.

Answer 1

Increasing food production and redistribution.

Question 2

Fear of witchcraft accusations would best be categorized as:

A)A formal mechanism of justice.
B)An informal mechanism of social control.
C)A use of psychology by authorities to control unwanted society members.
D)Irrational,since witches do not exist in any society.
E)The best way to avoid being the victim of a witch or sorcerer.

Answer 2

An informal mechanism of social control.

Question 3

A society's political organization is primarily related to:

A)The ecology of the area that they inhabit.
B)The degree of access individuals and groups have to basic material resources.
C)The presence of powerful individuals within the society.
D)The political organization of neighboring societies.
E)Whether or not they were ever colonized.

Answer 3

The degree of access individuals and groups have to basic material resources.

Question 4

An important way of resolving conflict in band-level societies involves all of the following except:

A)Ridicule.
B)Individuals moving from one band to another.
C)Contests between individuals.
D)Public confession.
E)Imprisonment.

Question 5

One thing that the Yoruba and Igbo of Nigeria as well as the Mende of Sierra Leone have in common is that:

A)They are all hunting-gathering societies.
B)They are all societies that have important third gender groups.
C)In all three,the king is also the head priest.
D)In all three,women held important formal political office.
E)All three were state level societies.

Question 6

The Ojibwa coined the term okimakkan or "fake chief" when:

A)Since no male was available,a female had to assume the chief's role.
B)An individual who was chief did not have the support of the people.
C)A chief was either under 15 years of age or older than 65.
D)Chiefs negotiated treaties with settlers that involved giving away traditional lands.
E)Outside governments insisted that the Ojibwa appoint a supreme leader.

Question 7

In regulating human behavior,law:

A)Is only one among many forms of social control.
B)Is most effective in small,homogeneous tribal societies.
C)By itself has no effect on human behavior.
D)Is much less effective than supernatural controls in complex societies.
E)Has no place in small,tribal societies.

Question 8

As the text defines law,it exists:

A)Only in state societies.
B)In all human societies.
C)Only in societies with a system of courts and judges.
D)In all societies except those at the very simplest sociocultural level.
E)Only in societies where writing has developed.

Question 9

A tribal society:

A)Is a creation of Western colonial administrators and not naturally occurring.
B)Imagines all of its members to be related by kinship.
C)Is characterized by peaceful relations among its different segments.
D)Lacks any social mechanisms to hold its different units together.
E)Is constantly in a state of warfare.

Question 10

All of the following have been suggested as a cause of Yanamamo warfare except:

A)Attempts of individuals from one village to capture women from other villages.
B)An indirect way of controlling population.
C)High levels of female infanticide and scarcity of females.
D)Competition over scarce resources as a result of Western encounters.
E)An expression of inability of primitive peoples to control their aggressive impulses.

Question 11

Moots differ from courts among the Kpelle mainly in that:

A)Courts are a traditional part of Kpelle culture,whereas moots are a Western innovation.
B)Courts are held in English,whereas moots are held in the local languages.
C)Courts give a lot of time to examining the complexities of a case,whereas moots are quick,superficial affairs.
D)Courts aim at determining legal liability,whereas moots aim at reconciling disputing parties.
E)Courts have dramatic,ritual,and psychological functions,whereas moots lack these expressive aspects.

Question 12

An important effect of European contact on the Yanamamo was:

A)An increased ability to learn English.
B)A decrease in the amount of violence.
C)Better health and education.
D)Acquisition of firearms and increased fatalities in war.
E)A more technologically effective exploitation of their forest environment.

Question 13

Which statement is most true of conflict in band-level societies?

A)Band-level societies never have conflict within the band.
B)Conflict is mainly between corporate kin groups fighting over land.
C)Band-level societies frequently engage in warfare.
D)Band-level societies minimize conflict between individuals but it does occur.
E)Band-level societies have died out mainly because their excessive interpersonal violence led to population decreases.

Question 14

In a society that is characterized by age grades:

A)Chiefs control all of the critical material resources.
B)People follow a well-ordered progression through a series of age-related life stages.
C)Rituals are rarely necessary.
D)People who lack the necessary skills to progress to the next grade are cast out of society.
E)People are very unlikely to make significant investments in warfare.

Question 15

Which of the following do anthropologists argue as an explanation for warfare in tribal societies?

A)It is totally irrational and maladaptive.
B)It is less frequent than in band societies.
C)It may regulate the balance between population and resources.
D)It is always associated with female infanticide.
E)It stems from an aggressive human instinct.

Question 16

The study of political processes focuses on:

A)The ways in which different groups within a society use power and authority to achieve goals.
B)The written laws used to regulate behavior in complex societies.
C)National elections in democratic societies.
D)The origin of prehistoric state societies.
E)Informal means of social control in pre-state societies.

Question 17

During buffalo hunts,the Cheyenne maintained order by:

A)Shaming anyone who violated a rule.
B)Gossiping about people who misbehaved.
C)Accusing misbehaving people of witchcraft
D)Beheading anyone who got out of line.
E)Policing by members of military societies.

Question 18

The dominance of a political elite based on a close identification between their own goals and those of the larger society is called:

A)Authority.
B)Power.
C)Legitimacy.
D)Juxtaposition.
E)Hegemony.

Question 19

Most anthropologists would agree with the following statement about Yanomamo warfare:

A)Their fighting is grounded in a biologically based human instinct for aggression.
B)Warfare among the Yanomamo is too complex a situation to ever be explained by anthropologists.
C)Warfare is only of interest to anthropologists when it occurs in non-Western,tribal societies.
D)Warfare only occurs in patrilineal,patrilocal societies such as the Yanomamo.
E)Yanomamo warfare intensified after contact with the West.

Question 20

Anthropologists commonly distinguish three patterns of social differentiation:

A)Cephalus,acephalous,decephalous.
B)Small,medium,and large.
C)Democratic,communist,and fascist.
D)Egalitarian,rank,and stratified.
E)Primitive,advanced,technological.

Question 21

A sovereign,geographically based state that identifies itself as having a distinctive national culture and historical experience is called a:

A)Ethnic enclave.
B)Ethnic state.
C)Nation-state.
D)Tribal state.
E)Bureaucracy.

Question 22

Which of the following best characterizes "ethnic groups"?

A)A group of families living in a well-defined geographical location.
B)A group of individuals who area,at some level,all biologically related to each other.
C)A group of people who all speak the same language.
D)A group of people who all seem to others to look like each other.
E)A group of people who view themselves as sharing an identity that separates them from others in society.

Question 23

Anthropologist Leo Chavez has referred to the U.S.-Mexico border as a place of "political theatre." By this he means that:

A)Attempts to control immigration are farcical.
B)Although the border makes news,the issues of real importance are played out in Washington D.C.
C)Different groups use border issues to promote their own agendas,ignoring the real needs of immigrants.
D)"Agitprop" tactics should be used by groups seeking to reform U.S.immigration law.
E)It is a place in which the American debate over immigration is dramatically played out.

Question 24

Compared with tribal societies,chiefdoms are likely to have:

A)Higher levels of internal violence.
B)Higher birth rates.
C)Greater rights for women.
D)Lesser rights for women.
E)Lower levels of internal violence.

Question 25

Which of the following best describes the struggle between Shi'a and Sunni Muslims?

A)It has continued uninterrupted since the time of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab in the early 1700s.
B)It has continued uninterrupted since the time of Mohammed Abdel Wahab in the early 20th century.
C)It is of ancient origin but can only be understood in terms of recent and current political events.
D)It does not affect the Islamic world outside of Iraq.
E)It is entirely a response to the Western invasion of and colonization of Islamic lands.

Question 26

The Tohono O'odham oppose the construction of a border fence between Mexico and the U.S.because:

A)They are Mexicans and want to have open access to both countries.
B)Their families live along the border,and their homes will be destroyed by its construction because it is proposed along their settlement path.
C)They own the land where the border will be constructed and do not want to sell to the U.S.government because it will leave them without territory.
D)They are concerned that their traditional way of life,including their rituals,will be affected by the land closure.
E)They are revolutionaries who oppose the creation of a nation-state through territorial boundaries.

Question 27

Which of the following statements about chiefs is most correct?

A)Chiefs only exist in band-level societies.
B)Chiefs' roles are mainly symbolic and have little economic or political importance.
C)Much of a chief's power is based on his ability to redistribute goods and services.
D)Chiefs are most important during times of war and have little to do in times of peace.
E)Chiefs did not exist anywhere before contact with the West;they were created by Europeans to make political dominance easier.

Question 28

Which of the following best describes ethnic conflicts?

A)They are based on age-old hatreds and grievances.
B)They almost always come down to personality clashes between individuals.
C)They are shaped by politics,economics,and history.
D)Because of their nature,they can rarely be successfully mediated.
E)They are almost always based on shared misunderstanding.

Question 29

An important cultural difference between Serbs and Croats from the former Yugoslavia is:

A)They speak different languages.
B)Serbs are Eastern Orthodox and Croats are Catholic.
C)Serbs are generally professionals while Croats tend to hold menial unskilled jobs.
D)Serbs are attached to socialism while Croats are generally capitalists.
E)Serbs and Croats generally dress differently.

Question 30

A conflict theory of the origin of the state emphasizes:

A)The emergence of centralization of power as a response to the emergence of an elite class that protects its power and privileges.
B)The rise of the state because of the need to organize manpower for irrigation projects.
C)The invention of the idea of the state in ancient Egypt and its diffusion to other parts of the world.
D)The increase of sophisticated military weaponry that developed after the Industrial Revolution.
E)The ways in which modern states are torn apart by conflict.

Question 31

A major distinction between chiefdoms and states is that:

A)Chiefs control their people through fear,whereas states control their people through political consensus.
B)Chiefdoms are egalitarian,whereas states have social ranking.
C)In chiefdoms,social ranking is based on kinship,whereas in states,kinship ties no longer extend throughout the society.
D)In chiefdoms,there is no centralized authority,whereas in states,there is a centralized authority.
E)Chiefdoms are integrated economically through redistribution,whereas states are economically integrated through reciprocity.

Question 32

What is meant by the term "well-founded fear"?

A)It is the name of a book about ethnic conflict cross-culturally.
B)It is a type of ethnic conflict in which genocide is conducted nation-wide.
C)It is the U.S.policy of granting political asylum to those who can prove they are threatened in their home countries.
D)It is an immigration policy in the U.S.in which refugees are placed in areas where their neighbors do not come from similar ethnic backgrounds.
E)It is a legal term that is used in U.S.courts to determine whether the plaintiff is guilty of coercion and threat based on ethnic background.

Question 33

The "Green Line" is:

A)The police force that protects American cities.
B)The geographical line that separates desert areas from tropical areas.
C)The fence that was built across Australia,from Starvation Harbor on the South Coast to a point near Cape Keravdren on the North West coast.
D)The border between Israel and the West Bank.
E)The fence separating the United States from Mexico.

Question 34

The stability of the Asante state was built on an economy whose key items included:

A)Intensive agriculture and industrialization.
B)Shallow gold deposits and intensive agriculture.
C)Pastoralism and the slave trade.
D)Wide trade networks for luxury goods,especially in animal products.
E)A skilled and educated class of artisans and priests.

Question 35

Which of the following correctly describes current anthropological thinking about the emergence of state level societies?

A)States emerged for different reasons in different places and at different times.
B)Control of irrigation was critical to the original emergence of the state.
C)The state emerged only once,in Egypt,and all states are in some way descendent from the original Egyptian state.
D)Diverging ethnicity and competing ethnic groups led to the origin of the state.
E)Warfare is the most critical factor in the emergence of state-level societies.

Question 36

An important way in which the Asante state controlled social mobility was in its:

A)Democratic election of the Asantehene.
B)Equitable tax structure which took from the rich and gave to the poor.
C)Policy of land reform.
D)Institution of public education in which children of all classes attended the same schools.
E)Control over the awarding of ceremonial titles and insignia.

Question 37

According to the text,which of the following statements most accurately describes ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia?

A)It is based on deep ethnic cultural differences which go back for centuries.
B)It is based on contemporary political manipulation of relatively small cultural differences.
C)There are no cultural differences between groups and the conflict is strictly economic.
D)The important ethnic differences have been minimized by the media.
E)The ethnic conflicts have been caused by U.S.foreign policy which favors Serbs over Bosnians.

Question 38

All of the following are social levels commonly created in state societies except:

A)Bureaucracy.
B)Peasant farmers.
C)Craftspeople.
D)Aristocracy.
E)Moot.

Question 39

All of the following are strong challenges that nation-states face from increasing globalization except:

A)Rise of multinational corporations that cut across nation-state lines.
B)Rise of global governing organizations,such as United Nations,which takes away their autonomy.
C)Increasingly international workforce both in and outside of the nation-state.
D)Rise of global forces integrating the world at a level beyond that of the nation-state.
E)Employees that are transnationals.

Question 40

In terms of political stability,state societies are:

A)The most unstable type of political system.
B)Necessarily vigilant at all times for signs of threat to elite authority.
C)Built on consensus with no need to solidify themselves through violent or coercive action.
D)Most effective when different ethnic groups are given opportunities to fully express their ethnic cultures.
E)Unlikely to survive when they have large populations of indigenous peoples.

Question 41

Band societies have neither warfare nor violence because they are egalitarian.

Question 42

Rebellion aims at overthrowing the present political structure and replacing it with a new one.

Question 43

More than any other form of political organization,the state can carry out military action for both defensive and offensive purposes.

Question 44

Most ethnic conflicts today reflect an uninterrupted history of ethnic hatred.

Question 45

Functionalist theories of state development emphasize the emergence of a powerful elite class that protects its power and privileges.

Question 46

Political organization refers to the patterned ways in which power and authority are used in a society to regulate behavior.

Question 47

The interdependence of social stratification and the rise of the state are well illustrated by the operation of the Kpelle moot.

Question 48

The tribal "big man" is an inherited position of leadership.

Question 49

Tribes and chiefdoms both have centralized leadership.

Question 50

Because they maintain great coercive and hegemonic power,states are generally peaceful and stable.

Question 51

One source of conflict between Croats and Serbs is that Croats are Christians and Serbs are Muslims.

Question 52

Unlike the concept of race with always involves perceived physical differences,ethnicity refers to perceived cultural differences.

Question 53

Hegemony refers to the dominance of a political elite based on a close identification between their goals and those of the larger society.

Question 54

Warfare may be a means of regulating population in tribal societies.

Question 55

Chiefdoms are stratified societies.

Question 56

The Green Line is the term used for the border between Mexico and the U.S.

Question 57

Thousands of Palestinians cross from the West Bank to Israel every day.This has resulted in increased militarization of the border and heightened tensions.

Question 58

In a stratified society,no one is denied access to the basic material resources needed to survive.

Question 59

Political authority in the Asante state was symbolized by the golden stool.

Question 60

All human societies have some normative system for dealing with people who break the rules.

Question 61

Name the three social levels of a state society.

Question 62

What is the major defining characteristic of a state society?

Question 63

Which of the four ideal types of political organization are considered to utilize centralized leadership?

Question 64

What are the four ideal types of political organization?

Question 65

What is the nation-state?

Question 66

What types of conflict resolution are used in band societies?

Question 67

What is a moot?

Question 68

Compare and contrast rebellion and revolution.

Question 69

What is the "Green Line"?

Question 70

What is the Asantehene?

Question 71

Discuss the primary causes of the ethnic war that erupted among groups in the former Yugoslavia once the nation-state was dismantled.

Question 72

What is a "bigman" and in which type of political organization are we most likely to find this?

Question 73

What types of organization serve to cut across and integrate individuals politically within the tribe?

Question 74

Distinguish power from authority.

Question 75

How does political leadership vary between tribes and chiefdoms?

Question 76

What is meant by the term "well-founded fear"?

Question 77

Define sumptuary law.

Question 78

How do states create a national culture and identity?

Question 79

Why are the Tohono O'odham opposed to the construction of a border fence between the U.S.and Mexico?

Question 80

Name the three patterns of social differentiation that anthropologists recognize.