Question 1

Which of the following is NOT typical of state-level societies?

Accepted Answer

A)  a purely foraging-based subsistence strategy 
B)  class stratification 
C)  boundary maintenance systems 
D)  intensive, managed agriculture 
E)  a specialized decision-making system 
A)  a purely foraging-based subsistence strategy 
B)  class stratification 
C)  boundary maintenance systems 
D)  intensive, managed agriculture 
E)  a specialized decision-making system A

Question 2

States are complex systems of sociopolitical organization that aim to control and administer everything from conflict resolution to fiscal systems to population movements.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  True

Question 3

This chapter's description of the Makua of Mozambique illustrates the combination of newer and more traditional characteristics of the Makua's formal political system.Give three examples of how the formal and traditional systems mix.Would the duality of the Makua system have been revealed had the analysis of this community focused only on the formal aspects of social control?

Accepted Answer

The formal and traditional systems of the Makua of Mozambique are intertwined in several ways. Firstly, the Makua have a traditional chief, known as the "nganga," who holds significant power and authority within the community. However, the formal political system also includes elected officials and a local government structure, which coexists with the traditional leadership.

Secondly, the Makua's formal political system includes a court system and legal framework, but traditional methods of conflict resolution, such as mediation by village elders, are still widely practiced and respected within the community.

Lastly, the Makua's formal political system includes modern infrastructure and services, such as schools and healthcare facilities, but traditional cultural practices and beliefs continue to play a significant role in shaping the community's social and political dynamics.

If the analysis of the Makua community had focused only on the formal aspects of social control, the duality of the Makua system may not have been fully revealed. By considering both the formal and traditional characteristics of the Makua's political system, we gain a more comprehensive understanding of how power and authority are structured and exercised within the community.

Question 4

Which of the following statements about political leaders in foraging bands is true?

Accepted Answer

A)  They maintain power by keeping up strong ties with the commoner class. 
B)  They have inherited special access to strategic resources. 
C)  They maintain control by conquering foreign territories. 
D)  They have no means of forcing people to follow their decisions. 
E)  They are the most dominant males in the largest, most powerful descent group. 
A)  They maintain power by keeping up strong ties with the commoner class. 
B)  They have inherited special access to strategic resources. 
C)  They maintain control by conquering foreign territories. 
D)  They have no means of forcing people to follow their decisions. 
E)  They are the most dominant males in the largest, most powerful descent group.

Question 5

The efficacy of social control depends on how clearly people envision the sanctions that an antisocial act might trigger.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

In tribal societies,the village head leads by example and through persuasion; he lacks the ability to force people to do things.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

As an example of how virtually no one is immune from larger political and economic forces,the Yanomami tribal society of Brazil has suffered recent changes as a result of

Accepted Answer

A)  being overrun by the more expansion-minded Nilotic peoples. 
B)  modern-minded big men amassing so much wealth that people have begun to regard them as chiefs. 
C)  village raiding among tribal groups. 
D)  the involvement of NGOs in their internal political affairs. 
E)  encroachment by gold miners and ranchers. 
A)  being overrun by the more expansion-minded Nilotic peoples. 
B)  modern-minded big men amassing so much wealth that people have begun to regard them as chiefs. 
C)  village raiding among tribal groups. 
D)  the involvement of NGOs in their internal political affairs. 
E)  encroachment by gold miners and ranchers.

Question 8

Anthropologists claim that in nonstate societies the political structure is embedded in relationships based on kinship,descent,and marriage.What does this mean? Use two ethnographic cases to illustrate this claim.

Accepted Answer

Anthropologists claim that in nonstate s

Question 9

A big man's position depends on all of the following EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

A)  hard work. 
B)  inherited inequality. 
C)  generosity. 
D)  personal charisma. 
E)  creation of wealth superior to that of others. 
A)  hard work. 
B)  inherited inequality. 
C)  generosity. 
D)  personal charisma. 
E)  creation of wealth superior to that of others.

Question 10

Stratum endogamy is restricted to chiefdoms,wherein chiefs occupied a formal elite stratum in society.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Age grades represent stages in one's life with specific tasks,obligations,and duties for the individuals in a given grade.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

What are the major results and implications of food production? How does reliance on food production affect the social,economic,and political organization of societies that practice it?

Accepted Answer

The major results of food production inc

Question 13

What factors are responsible for the variable development of political regulation and authority structures among pastoralists?

Accepted Answer

The variable development of political re

Question 14

Kottak prefers the term sociopolitical organization to Morton Fried's term political organization in discussing the regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives,because

Accepted Answer

A)  the term sociopolitical is more politically correct. 
B)  anthropologists and political scientists have an interest in political systems and organization, but they cannot agree on the same terminology. 
C)  sociopolitical is the term the founders of anthropology used to refer to the regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives. 
D)  the term political refers only to contemporary Western states. 
E)  Fried's definition is much less applicable to nonstates, in which it is often difficult to detect any public policy. 
A)  the term sociopolitical is more politically correct. 
B)  anthropologists and political scientists have an interest in political systems and organization, but they cannot agree on the same terminology. 
C)  sociopolitical is the term the founders of anthropology used to refer to the regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives. 
D)  the term political refers only to contemporary Western states. 
E)  Fried's definition is much less applicable to nonstates, in which it is often difficult to detect any public policy.

Question 15

In bands,the leader occupies an official office with coercive control over the members of the community.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

In chiefdoms,chiefs occupy formal offices and administer or regulate a series of villages.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

Discuss ways in which order is maintained in societies that lack chiefs and rulers.

Accepted Answer

In societies that lack chiefs and rulers

Question 18

How does one distinguish between a chiefdom and a state? Is this a useful distinction? Is it always easy to make such a distinction?

Accepted Answer

A chiefdom and a state can be distinguis

Question 19

Population control in states refers to the police and military.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

Despite the analytical usefulness of learning about anthropologist Elman Service's typology of political organization into bands,tribes,chiefdoms,and states,it is important to remember that

Accepted Answer

A)  Bronislaw Malinowski first came up with this typology. 
B)  it applies only to the reality of societies in the so-called Third World. 
C)  none of these political entities, or polities, can be studied as a self-contained form of political organization, because all exist within nation-states. 
D)  it has no practical value in ethnographic research, only in theoretical anthropology. 
E)  people all over the world vocally reject being classified under such a typology and typically express their anger through hidden transcripts. 
A)  Bronislaw Malinowski first came up with this typology. 
B)  it applies only to the reality of societies in the so-called Third World. 
C)  none of these political entities, or polities, can be studied as a self-contained form of political organization, because all exist within nation-states. 
D)  it has no practical value in ethnographic research, only in theoretical anthropology. 
E)  people all over the world vocally reject being classified under such a typology and typically express their anger through hidden transcripts.

Exam 17: Political Systems

Which of the following is NOT typical of state-level societies?

States are complex systems of sociopolitical organization that aim to control and administer everything from conflict resolution to fiscal systems to population movements.

Which of the following statements about political leaders in foraging bands is true?

The efficacy of social control depends on how clearly people envision the sanctions that an antisocial act might trigger.

In tribal societies,the village head leads by example and through persuasion; he lacks the ability to force people to do things.

As an example of how virtually no one is immune from larger political and economic forces,the Yanomami tribal society of Brazil has suffered recent changes as a result of

Anthropologists claim that in nonstate societies the political structure is embedded in relationships based on kinship,descent,and marriage.What does this mean? Use two ethnographic cases to illustrate this claim.

A big man's position depends on all of the following EXCEPT

Stratum endogamy is restricted to chiefdoms,wherein chiefs occupied a formal elite stratum in society.

Age grades represent stages in one's life with specific tasks,obligations,and duties for the individuals in a given grade.

What are the major results and implications of food production? How does reliance on food production affect the social,economic,and political organization of societies that practice it?

What factors are responsible for the variable development of political regulation and authority structures among pastoralists?

Kottak prefers the term sociopolitical organization to Morton Fried's term political organization in discussing the regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives,because

In bands,the leader occupies an official office with coercive control over the members of the community.

In chiefdoms,chiefs occupy formal offices and administer or regulate a series of villages.

Discuss ways in which order is maintained in societies that lack chiefs and rulers.

How does one distinguish between a chiefdom and a state? Is this a useful distinction? Is it always easy to make such a distinction?

Population control in states refers to the police and military.

Despite the analytical usefulness of learning about anthropologist Elman Service's typology of political organization into bands,tribes,chiefdoms,and states,it is important to remember that

What Is Anthropology

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