Analyze social and
political structures
Who can describe the political
system in your barangay? Or in
the municipality of Batad?
ACTIVITY 1: DEFINITION OF TERMS
a. bands f. authority
b. tribes g. legitimacy
c. chiefdoms h. traditional
d. nation i. charismatic
e. states j. rational
BANDS
- typically formed by several families living
together based on marriage ties, common
descendants, friendship affiliations, and
members usually have a common interest,
or enemy.
BANDS
Characteristics:
• the main source of integration is kinship
either by blood or affinity
BANDS
Characteristics:
• power structure is less hierarchical as
member families are seen to be equal and
there is no class differentiation based on
wealth
BANDS
Characteristics:
• women have higher influence that are
considered pedestrian-foragers (gatherers)
BANDS
Characteristics:
• men tend to end up having more
leadership roles whose livelihoods depend
on hunting or in pastoralist-agricultural
bands where food is produced by
cultivating the land
BANDS
• informal leadership is accorded to members who
possesses certain skills and knowledge such as the gift
of memory, hunting or healing skills, or those other
special ability
• in some event, accession to the status of informal
leadership is reached by consensus rather than by a
formal process of an election
BANDS
• informal leader does not possess absolute political
power, and could not compel others and can only give
advice
• decision making is often done by consensus
BANDS
• band fissioning- the splitting of band along family
lines
• social velocity- a new band formed after band
fissioning
TRIBES
a band that survives fissioning and social
velocity, even it experiences increasing
population and a shift from a foraging and
hunting community, to one where there is now
a presence of multiple communities engaged in
pastoral or horticultural forms of livelihood
TRIBES
more complex which resulted from the fact that
the source of integration is no longer simply by
informal forms of leadership presiding to govern
kinship ties or friendship, but by a more
elaborate way of organizing to settle conflicts to
prevent the society from breaking apart
TRIBES
pantribal associations- come in the form of
councils or tribal elders which eventually led to
the eventual displacement of women leaders,
also it is due to the shift from foraging to
agricultural forms of livelihood which even in
bands
TRIBES
often headed by a village headman who derives
his/her authority from having a senior position,
coupled with an ability to force others to obey
him
TRIBES
most tribes remain to be egalitarian, where
families and groups are considered politically
and economically equal, even those of the
headmen
TRIBES
contact with modern societies led to the
eventual collapse of tribal systems as tribes
were unable to maintain their traditional
political systems
CHIEFDOMS
A political organization that more defined
formal leadership exists and authority rests
solely on the members of a select family;
composed of a number of communities that is
ruled by a permanent paramount chief coming
from this elite family ; power is inherited
CHIEFDOMS
social structure is hierarchical; social classes
exist and are differentiated according to the
level of their power in relation to the
permanent ruler
CHIEFDOMS
class mobility exist; it usually happens when
one performs an extraordinary task or
achievement
social status is affected by marriage, age and
sex
CHIEFDOMS
SIMPLE CHIEFDOM- characterized by a
central village or community ruled by a single
family
CHIEFDOMS
COMPLEX CHIEFDOM- composed of several simple
chiefdoms ruled by a single paramount chief residing in a single
paramount center; characterized by a class system where the
elites demand tributes in the form of agricultural crops and
produce from the commoners to a system that is called a
“tributary system”; lesser chiefs are obliged to give tribute to the
paramount chief; the paramount chief carries out rituals and
performs functions over which he has sole authority such as the
conduct of symbolic redistribution of material goods and the
awarding of titles and other symbolic rewards
NATION
groups of people that shared a common
history, language, traditions, customs,
habits, and ethnicity; it remains a political
entity that does not possess the status of
being recognized as an independent
political entity
STATE
a political unit consisting of a government
that has sovereignty presiding over a
group of people and a well-defined
territory and is thus the highest form of
political organization
POLITICAL LEGITIMACY AND AUTHORITY
Authority- the power to make binding decisions
and issue commands; what makes authority binding,
and worthy of obedience is its legitimacy
Legitimacy- a moral and ethical concept that
bestows one who possesses power the right to
exercise such power since such is perceived to be
justified and proper
TYPES OF LEGITIMATE
AUTHORITY
(MAX WEBER)
traditional authority -
legitimacy is derived from well-
established customs, habits, and
social structures (ex. monarchical
rule and rule of elites in
chiefdoms)
charismatic authority- legitimacy
emanates from the charisma of the
individual, which for some can be
seen as a “gift of grace” or the
possession of “gravitas” or an
authority derived from a “higher
power” (ex. divine right of kings)
• rational-legal or bureaucratic
authority- draws its legitimacy from
formal rules promulgated by state
through its fundamental and
implementing laws; the most dominant
way of legitimizing authority in modern
states, and this is from government
officials draw their power.
