Deck 12: Political Systems

Question 1

Which of the following is an example of influence?

A) Tomo is a good hunter and often brings home a lot of meat. As a result, he has many friends who want to share this meat.
B) A doctor prescribes cholesterol-lower medicine to you. You don't think you need this medicine but decide to take it anyway because your doctor probably knows better than you do.
C) A police officer pulls you over and tells you to fix your tail light. You decide not to fix it until you have more money.
D) A chief tells the wealthy members of society to give food to the poorer members of the chiefdom.

Answer 1

Tomo is a good hunter and often brings home a lot of meat. As a result, he has many friends who want to share this meat.

Question 2

The typology of band, tribe, chiefdom, and state is still used because __________.

A) all societies fall into one of these three types
B) these categories are scientifically demonstrable
C) they are useful tools for discussion of societal differences
D) they are absolute cases

Answer 2

they are useful tools for discussion of societal differences

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a principle upon which social groups are formed?

A) wealth
B) sharing
C) cohesion
D) reciprocity

Answer 3

wealth

Question 4

Which of the following would most likely be a reward for good leadership in band societies?

A) greater wealth
B) military power
C) prestige
D) rights of other people

Question 5

Which branch of anthropology would be concerned with how groups elect their leaders?

A) social anthropology
B) symbolic anthropology
C) political anthropology
D) economic anthropology

Question 6

Which of the following best describes a small, loosely organized groups of people held together by informal means?

A) bands
B) tribes
C) chiefdoms
D) states

Question 7

The Tiwi kinship system is based on __________.

A) nuclear families
B) patrilineal clans
C) matrilineal clans
D) age grades

Question 8

In a band society, which of the following is most likely to make you a leader?

A) inheritance
B) elections
C) authority from God
D) skill in warfare

Question 9

The story of Short Woman comes from the __________.

A) Apache
B) Nuer
C) Cheyenne
D) Arapaho

Question 10

Most bands pursue a __________ style of subsistence economy.

A) pastoral
B) foraging
C) horticultural
D) agricultural

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT an example of a band society?

A) Saami
B) Navajo
C) Tiwi
D) Mbuti

Question 12

__________ introduced the four-part typology of band, tribe, chiefdom, and state.

A) Elman Service
B) Clifford Geertz
C) Leslie White
D) Margaret Mead

Question 13

Many of the traits of band societies are the result of __________.

A) the economic need to be nomadic
B) the use of reciprocal trade relationships
C) clans as the basis of kinship
D) democratic decision making

Question 14

Membership in band societies is usually based on __________.

A) selection for inclusion
B) age
C) kinship
D) merit

Question 15

Functions of political organizations in society do NOT include __________.

A) settling disputes
B) organizing activities
C) selecting leaders
D) developing new technology

Question 16

A society that doesn't have private property and has leadership based on achievement, rather than family relations, is most likely a __________.

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

Question 17

Which of the following statements about band societies is false?

A) They are currently located in isolated and marginal areas of the world.
B) Their populations range from twenty-five members to several hundred members.
C) Their leaders are selected on the basis of personal wealth and property ownership.
D) While leaders have some influence, they lack the authority to enforce their will.

Question 18

In Tiwi society __________ are the fundamental units of organization.

A) kin groups
B) households
C) political parties
D) trade networks

Question 19

According to the Short Woman narrative, how do the Cheyenne deal with wrongdoers?

A) they are banished from the community
B) they are publicly chastised for a year
C) they must give half of their food to the community
D) they are tried by a jury of their peers

Question 20

Which of the following is an accurate statement about Service's typology of political organization?

A) It is ideal, in that features do not overlap from one typology to another.
B) The ordering of the types indicates an increasing evolution and advancement of societies.
C) It is a useful tool in discussing anthropological cultural differences.
D) Since it is a decades-old concept, it has no use in modern-day cultural anthropology.

Question 21

__________ are societies with some degree of formalization of structure and leadership, including leaders who meet to settle disputes and plan activities.

A) Bands
B) Tribes
C) Chiefdoms
D) States

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT an example of a tribal society?

A) Hmong
B) Mbuti
C) Passamaquoddy
D) Dani

Question 23

The Iroquois were comprised of __________ nations who acted as a single political unit when dealing with outsiders.

A) three
B) five
C) seven
D) twelve

Question 24

In Hidatsa society, age grades __________.

A) existed only for men
B) existed only for women
C) served to provide meeting places for people with common interests
D) existed for both men and women

Question 25

In __________ society, all females are married from birth to death.

A) Ojibwe
B) Ju'/hoansi
C) Tiwi
D) Ainu

Question 26

Tribal societies usually follow which of the following subsistence patterns?

A) foraging only
B) horticulture or agriculture
C) agriculture only
D) foraging, horticulture, or pastoralism

Question 27

Which of the following is an example of a tribal confederacy?

A) The Allies during WWII, when several world powers allied to stop Nazi Germany.
B) The French and Indians during the French and Indian War.
C) The Iroquois, who were made up of five distinct tribal units.
D) The Navajo, who form a cohesive tribal unit across a large geographic space.

Question 28

The most usual kinship structure in tribal societies is __________.

A) bilateral descent
B) a kindred
C) unilineal descent
D) nuclear families

Question 29

In Hidatsa society male age grades mostly related to __________.

A) buffalo hunting
B) military service
C) religious activities
D) agricultural activities

Question 30

There is less violence within band societies, compared to other societies, for all of the following reasons EXCEPT __________.

A) informal links between band members
B) group composition adheres to a rigid structure
C) there are no conflicts over property because land is not owned
D) disputes can be resolved by leaving one band and joining another

Question 31

Age grades (age sets) are groups of people of approximately the same age within tribal societies who __________.

A) are ritual outsiders
B) are not yet married
C) are given specific socio-political functions
D) share birthday celebrations

Question 32

Tribal societies tend to differ from band societies in which of the following ways?

A) Tribal leaders have considerable coercive power over members.
B) There are more formalized organizational procedures.
C) Tribal societies are not egalitarian.
D) Tribal chiefs are successful due to an over centralization of power.

Question 33

What is true about the concept of land within the Tiwi society?

A) Landholding rights were inherited through good deeds within the society.
B) Land was divided into individual, but equal parcels.
C) A collective group owned a "country," and they were responsible for its well- being.
D) Since Tiwis are a band society, they are not officially recognized as legal landowners.

Question 34

As discussed on page 313, few societies are ideal "types." However, which of the following list of attributes best fits a tribal society?

A) egalitarian, dependent on agriculture, relatively small population, little violence
B) foragers, nomadic, little violence, run by an authoritative council
C) chiefs with the power to enforce their decisions, foragers, established trade routes, private property
D) dependent on agriculture, chiefs with the power to enforce their decisions, storage of a surplus, social stratification

Question 35

In the Tiwi kinship system all clans are exogamous. This means that a member of one clan is most likely to marry __________.

A) their sibling
B) a member of a different clan
C) a member of their own clan
D) an older individual

Question 36

A __________ is a form of political organization in which tribes and bands join together under common leadership to face an external threat.

A) confederacy
B) state
C) union
D) association

Question 37

__________ are sociopolitical groups that link people in a community on the basis of shared interests and skills.

A) Associations
B) Guilds
C) Unions
D) Age grades

Question 38

Which of the following statements accurately describes Tiwi society?

A) Women accumulate prestige as they age and accumulate large families.
B) Women accumulate prestige only if they are skilled healers.
C) Men avoid attempts to accumulate prestige in order to avoid conflict.
D) Men use wealth strategically to accumulate prestige.

Question 39

The Black Mouth age set served as a __________ in Hidatsa society.

A) priestly order
B) craft guild
C) police force
D) leadership council

Question 40

The kinship system of the Hidatsa of North Dakota was based on __________.

A) bilateral membership in two oppositional clans
B) patrilineal clans and moieties
C) matrilineal clans and moieties
D) age grades and seniority

Question 41

Chiefdoms are stratified societies organized by __________.

A) semi-divine leaders
B) reciprocal economic functions that are unequal in benefits
C) warfare and conquest
D) kinship

Question 42

Which of the following is NOT an example of a state society?

A) republic
B) kingdom
C) empire
D) sect

Question 43

One of the few exceptions to chiefdoms as farming societies were the foraging-based chiefdoms of __________.

A) coastal regions of Southern Africa
B) the Amazon Basin
C) Southern India and Bangladesh
D) the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

Question 44

In the chiefdoms of Tikopia and Tahiti, chiefs were believed to possess __________ which could be harmful to commoners unless they were careful.

A) ghost servants
B) magical items
C) mana
D) karma

Question 45

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a chiefdom society?

A) they are a surplus-producing economy
B) they are nomadic, relying upon foraging for sustenance
C) they are stratified societies, organized by kinship
D) they have some degree of centralized authority

Question 46

Which of the following societies is NOT a chiefdom?

A) Amhara of Ethiopia
B) Natchez of Mississippi
C) Tongan Islanders
D) Zulu of South Africa

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT a cultural correlate of chiefdoms?

A) well identified system of ownership or rights over resources
B) sedentism
C) production of little or no surplus
D) well demarked boundaries between kin and/or political groups

Question 48

Which of the following statements about chiefdom societies is true?

A) Most chiefs gain their status through personal achievement.
B) Some chiefs do not appear to have benefited economically from their position at all.
C) Chiefs are thought to receive power from spiritual powers and, therefore, do not need to be generous to their followers.
D) It is almost always the case the chiefdom based societies are united under a single paramount chief who controls clans or kin groups through sub-chiefs.

Question 49

Which of the following types of societies are most likely to produce a surplus of agricultural products?

A) bands
B) democracies
C) tribes
D) chiefdoms

Question 50

What is the basic economy of chiefdom societies?

A) farming
B) pastoralism
C) foraging
D) expansion

Question 51

Chiefs have some power to control economic labor and __________.

A) kinship alliances of families under them
B) distribution of resources
C) religious ideology
D) family life

Question 52

__________ selected the first Rodiyaners, or rulers, for each nation in the Iroquois Confederacy.

A) The Peacemaker and Hayonhwatha
B) Tribal war chiefs
C) Females from the member nations
D) A council consisting of one shaman from each member nation

Question 53

In Hidatsa society all important decisions made by village councils relied on __________.

A) material evidence
B) unanimous consent of all households
C) unanimous agreement by the council elders
D) decisions made by the council leader

Question 54

__________ are highly organized, centralized political systems with a hierarchical structure of authority.

A) States
B) Bureaucracies
C) Empires
D) Colonies

Question 55

The three principles of seniority, gender, and __________ ranked every individual in traditional Tongan society.

A) ancestry
B) lineage
C) craft profession
D) sisterhood

Question 56

Northwest Coastal Native American societies used __________ as a way of demonstrating chiefly generosity.

A) caucuses
B) celebratory feasts
C) rodiyaner
D) amhara

Question 57

Chiefs are NOT able to __________ in order to gain the compliance of people.

A) use bribery
B) change legal statutes
C) use force
D) use persuasion

Question 58

Which of the following tribes is NOT a member of the Iroquois Confederacy?

A) Seneca
B) Cree
C) Mowawk
D) Onondaga

Question 59

The acquisition of __________ from the British ultimately led to the conversion of Tongan society into a kingdom.

A) sugar
B) firearms
C) windmills
D) trade blankets

Question 60

Which of the following is NOT an effect of the codification of Tongan law in the mid-nineteenth century?

A) It solidified the state's power and men's authority over women.
B) It enhanced the economic power of chiefly families at the expense of non-chiefly families.
C) It buffered chiefs and the king from contact with ordinary people and their demands.
D) It upheld the traditional right of fahu, resulting in the independence of women from their husbands.

Question 61

Which of the following is NOT an example of a successful factionalist campaign?

A) the Civil Rights Movement
B) the Mexican Revolution
C) the United States Confederacy
D) the American Revolution

Question 62

Societies that control the use of force and develop military power are usually called __________.

A) bands
B) tribes
C) chiefdoms
D) states

Question 63

Which of the following could be considered the best evidence to support Karl Wittfogel's hydraulic hypothesis?

A) Many early state-level societies are found near lakes, rivers, and oceans.
B) Violence and warfare accelerated prior to early state formation.
C) Early states relied almost exclusively on agriculture.
D) Some state-level societies formed in river valleys.

Question 64

Which of the following could be considered the best evidence to support Robert Camiro's theory of environmental circumscription?

A) Many early state-level societies are found near lakes, rivers, and oceans.
B) Violence and warfare accelerated prior to early state formation.
C) Early states relied almost exclusively on agriculture.
D) Some state-level societies formed in river valleys.

Question 65

In situations where there is no environmental circumscription, Carneiro suggests that __________ explains the emergence of states.

A) expansion of trade
B) unequal distribution of resources across a landscape
C) consolidation of chiefly power by one family
D) divine right

Question 66

Some early states made use of __________ in order to consolidate the power of rulers.

A) religious sacrifice of prisoners of war
B) kinship alliances with commoners
C) brother-sister marriages
D) propaganda

Question 67

Which of the following is NOT an example of terrorism?

A) the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
B) car bombings carried out by the Irish Republic Army
C) package bombs delivered by the Unabomber
D) the assassination of Osama Bin Laden

Question 68

What does the result of the factionalist movement within the Hopi culture in 1906 say about societies?

A) Disruption in societies linked by kinship, marriage, or social association are usually resolved without violence.
B) Only state societies have a structure that allows for conflicts to be resolved without bloodshed.
C) Conflicts in tribal societies are always influenced by the encroachment of state societies.
D) A lack of a police force is but one example of how tribal societies are inferior to state societies.

Question 69

The tendency for groups to split into opposing groups over political differences, or __________, can lead to turmoil, violence, and even revolution.

A) culture wars
B) rebellion
C) factionalism
D) class warfare

Question 70

Which of the following is an example of a head of state?

A) army general
B) chief executive officer (CEO)
C) judge
D) president

Question 71

All of the following are examples of social control in the United States EXCEPT __________.

A) the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
B) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)
C) the Michigan Militia
D) the New York City Police Department

Question 72

Which of the following is NOT a mechanism of force that state societies use to control an unruly populace?

A) An unwritten but generally understood code of manners.
B) A system of courts that decide the guilt or innocence of individuals.
C) The use of a police force to enforce laws.
D) A codified and standardized set of laws.

Question 73

Which of the following traits are only found among state-level societies?

A) collaborative labor
B) bureaucrats help organize projects
C) large population aggregations
D) complex social organizations

Question 74

Which of the following is NOT an example of factionalism?

A) the demolition of the Berlin wall
B) the declaration of independence for the United States
C) the American Civil War
D) the disintegration of Yugoslavia

Question 75

__________ are states ruled by religious leaders.

A) Divinely mandated governments
B) Theocracies
C) Kleptocracies
D) Oligarchies

Question 76

While elites in state societies control resources, production, and surplus just as chiefs do, a difference between them is __________.

A) chiefs personally own all of these economic systems
B) elites pay taxes rather than tribute
C) elites retain the majority of surplus for their own use
D) chiefs directly control their bureaucracies while elites do not

Question 77

All of the following are examples of Elitist tactics that are used to maintain political and social control EXCEPT __________.

A) using a police force to quell revolutionist movements
B) using public forums to allow all voices to be heard
C) separating society based upon skin color or race
D) genocide, or ethnic cleansing

Question 78

Empires expand through __________.

A) population growth
B) conquering or annexing neighboring land
C) uniting chiefdoms through alliances
D) well controlled state trade

Question 79

According to Robert Carneiro's theory of state formation, __________ was the critical factor in the formation of early states.

A) the need for a military
B) massive social organization for irrigation works
C) environmental circumscription
D) the emergence of religious priesthoods

Question 80

Regardless of the system of leadership, states show __________ compared to other political systems.

A) greater stratification
B) less stratification
C) less efficiency
D) less warfare