Deck 10: Political Order, Disorder, and Social Control: Who Decides

Question 1

Politics is difficult to define cross-culturally because

A) leadership is inherited in some cultures.
B) individual cultures do not view the use of power as a political force.
C) one culture views another culture's politics ethnocentrically.
D) there are few common features in political systems.

Answer 1

one culture views another culture's politics ethnocentrically.

Question 2

An anthropological study of politics will include a consideration of

A) power and authority.
B) sanctions.
C) decision making.
D) all of the above

Answer 2

all of the above

Question 3

A group of people who have a similar relationship to the mechanisms of wealth, power, and social status is termed a(n)

A) class.
B) stratified group.
C) caste.
D) age set.

Answer 3

class.

Question 4

To make people do his bidding, a Yanomamo headman has

A) authority, but not power.
B) power, but not authority.
C) limited authority
D) sanctions he controls

Question 5

A Yanomamo headman would probably understand the American president's political difficulties with Congress because both the president and the headman

A) acquired authority in similar ways.
B) acquired their status through hard work.
C) acquired both power and authority in the same way
D) acquired power and use power in similar ways.

Question 6

An industrial society's police force is an example of the legitimate use of

A) power.
B) political sanctions.
C) wealth.
D) authority.

Question 7

According to Elman Service, the basic types of political structure include

A) bands, tribes, and kingdoms.
B) bands, tribes, and states.
C) bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states.
D) bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and nations.

Question 8

Band organization is found among which types of societies?

A) horticultural and pastoral
B) foraging
C) intensive agricultural
D) state

Question 9

The Ju/'hoansi are best described as a band because

A) leadership is inherited.
B) they have an egalitarian social structure.
C) leaders require gifts from the community.
D) the leader is called a Big Man.

Question 10

Bands are very flexible social groupings because

A) leaders continually rotate positions of authority.
B) leadership is not concentrated in one individual.
C) food resources are concentrated in one area.
D) the kinship division of labor is egalitarian.

Question 11

Bands are referred to as egalitarian because

A) everyone gets to vote on group decisions.
B) leadership cycles between young and older individuals.
C) everyone has equal access to status mechanisms.
D) everyone pays tribute to the leader.

Question 12

Which term has been used to designate a stage in human evolution, as a term for "primitive" people, and as a political system of non-state societies?

A) band
B) chiefdom
C) tribe
D) hunter-gatherer

Question 13

The term tribe has been used to mean all of the following EXCEPT a

A) term for primitive people.
B) stage in human evolution coming after band.
C) political system of a non-state society.
D) political system led by a chief.

Question 14

The leadership features of tribal societies are most similar to

A) bands.
B) chiefdoms.
C) states.
D) nations.

Question 15

Chiefdoms differ from tribes primarily as a result of the

A) environments they inhabit.
B) accumulation of goods.
C) hereditary office of chief.
D) domestic mode of production.

Question 16

Big Men are associated with leadership in the type of society known as a

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

Question 17

Sodalities first appear at which societal level?

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

Question 18

Age-set sodalities are found in

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

Question 19

A sodality is associated with a(n)

A) egalitarian kinship organization.
B) similar residence location.
C) similar kinship affiliation.
D) shared interests and concerns among its members.

Question 20

Nuer males become part of a sodality when

A) they are married to a woman from another community.
B) they are about fourteen to sixteen years old.
C) their sisters marry.
D) their first child is born.

Question 21

In a band society, who would most likely be responsible for punishing a murderer?

A) sodality member
B) judge
C) friend of the victim
D) close kin member

Question 22

Supernatural connections to political leadership are most closely associated with

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

Question 23

Rank societies are those where individuals gain prestige and wealth by using

A) coercive power.
B) persuasive power.
C) coercive authority.
D) simple authority.

Question 24

Which of the following is a society that is classified as a rank society?

A) Hawaiian
B) Ju/'hoansi
C) Washo
D) America

Question 25

It is often difficult to identify who the leader is in a foraging society because

A) you can't tell who is the oldest person.
B) the leader will not wear a leadership insignia or live in special housing.
C) leadership varies depending on what types of decisions need to be made.
D) outward indicators of wealth are difficult to observe.

Question 26

The aboriginal Washo had leaders who

A) were elders of the senior clan.
B) had special knowledge and skills.
C) had inherited the role of leader.
D) were elected by the group.

Question 27

The Washo band of California illustrates the following type of leadership:

A) formal roles vested in chiefs.
B) informal roles.
C) formal inherited roles.
D) a ranked structure.

Question 28

Among the Siuai of the Solomon Islands, leaders are called

A) shamans.
B) kings.
C) mumis.
D) priests.

Question 29

Among the Siuai of the Solomon Islands, becoming a leader requires

A) generosity in gift giving and providing feasts.
B) being the most successful hunter.
C) having a charismatic personality.
D) raising the most pigs.

Question 30

Tributes in the form of food surpluses and goods are commonly paid to leaders in which type of society?

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

Question 31

Nation states share all of the following features EXCEPT

A) common geographical location.
B) stratified social classes.
C) culture and history.
D) type of political organization.

Question 32

In Knauft's comparative study of murder rates, the highest rate per one hundred thousand people was in which area or society?

A) Samoa, Polynesia
B) Ju/'hoansi, Africa
C) Gebusi, New Guinea
D) Houston-Baytown-Sugarland, Texas

Question 33

In the last 125 years in the Cook Islands, the local Maori paramount chiefs were

A) always men.
B) always women.
C) could be either men or women.
D) alternate between men and women.

Question 34

Cephu, a Mbuti pygmy who was caught stealing meat from the group, was punished by

A) exile from the group.
B) physical punishment.
C) ridicule and ostracism.
D) fines in the form of material goods.

Question 35

Inuit (Eskimo) song duels are considered

A) formal means of social control.
B) informal means of social control.
C) part of the court system.
D) part of the moot system.

Question 36

To the author's query about the many tethered pigs in the Cook Islands, she was told that they were used as

A) an item for bride price negotiations.
B) payment for debts.
C) a gift to the Ariki chief.
D) funeral offerings.

Question 37

Studies of the adaptation made by rural peoples as they move to cities are known as

A) diffusion studies.
B) urbanization studies.
C) stratification studies.
D) class studies.

Question 38

Define and give an example of a pan-tribal-sodality.

Question 39

How does a Solomon Island mumi gain power and prestige?

Question 40

Contrast leadership in tribes and chiefdoms.

Question 41

Describe two informal means of social control.

Question 42

Distinguish between formal and informal means of social control.

Question 43

Describe and give an example of one dimension of social stratification.

Question 44

Compare and contrast the power and authority of leaders in bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states.

Question 45

What was the crime of Cephu, and how does the way the Mbuti dealt with Cephu illustrate informal means of social control?

Question 46

Describe and discuss the dimensions of social stratification found across cultures.