Question 1

The Inuit song battle is

Accepted Answer

A)  sometimes the occasion for a "treacherous feast."
B)  a widespread feature of tribal society.
C)  a ritualized means of designating hunting lands.
D)  a means of resolving disputes so as to forestall open conflict.
E)  used to initiate colonial strategies. D

Question 2

The status systems of chiefdoms and states are similar, in that both are based on differential access to resources.Nevertheless, a key distinction is that

Accepted Answer

A)  status is much more important to leaders in chiefdoms than in states.
B)  differential access in chiefdoms is still very much tied to kinship.
C)  stratum endogamy exists in chiefdoms but not in state status systems.
D)  in chiefdoms, women are always excluded from the competition for status, whereas in states, this gender difference does not exist.
E)  the status system of chiefdoms can sometimes function in a completely egalitarian manner when the populations are small enough. B

Question 3

How does a big man increase his status?

Accepted Answer

A)  Big men are village heads who are trying to turn their achieved status into something more permanent; the standard way of doing this is through conspicuous symbolic displays of wealth.
B)  The term big man refers to the liminal state a Kapauku youth enters before marriage; he accumulates wealth as a way of funding the wedding and paying the bride price.
C)  Big men are typically war leaders and as such, must have a standing supply of "grievance gifts" to compensate the families of warriors who die under their command.
D)  The primary means of becoming a big man is the wearing of a tonowi shell necklace, which is imported from the coast and is therefore quite expensive by Kapauku standards.
E)  Big men do not keep the wealth they accumulate; instead, they redistribute it to create and maintain alliances with political supporters. E

Question 4

Most band and tribal societies in the world today are completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

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

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

In an ethnographic field study of political systems in northern Mozambique, Nicholas Kottak found that avoiding shame can be an effective control against breaking social norms.This example of how shame can be a powerful social sanction

Accepted Answer

A)  is unique among ethnographic cases illustrating the variety of sociopolitical systems that exist in the world today.
B)  is often a key component of the formal processes of social control.
C)  is evidence that shame is a cultural universal.
D)  is an indication that women tend to suffer from the consequences of shame more than men do.
E)  joins the work of many other anthropologists that cite the importance of informal processes of social control, including gossip and stigma.

Question 7

The Yanomami of Venezuela and Brazil have descent groups, which span more than one village and are

Accepted Answer

A)  matrilineal and primarily dependent on foraging.
B)  typically led by a female leader.
C)  lacking gender stratification.
D)  purely horticulturalists.
E)  patrilineal and exogamous in nature.

Question 8

How does Morton Fried define political organization? Why does Kottak prefer to use the term sociopolitical organization in discussing the regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How does Morton Fried define political organization?...

Question 9

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 10

Noting that chiefdoms created the megalithic cultures of Europe, such as the one that built Stonehenge, Kottak reminds us that

Accepted Answer

A)  chiefdoms that failed to become states did not have enough stone.
B)  chiefdoms and states can fall as well as rise.
C)  all chiefdoms end up becoming states.
D)  all powerful chiefdoms required elaborate stonework to be recognized by competing groups.
E)  chiefdoms have been among the rarest forms of social organization throughout human history.

Question 11

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 12

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

The answer of Anthropologists claim that in nonstate societies the...

Question 13

The anthropological approach to the study of political systems and organization is global and comparative and includes nonstates as well as the states and nation-states usually studied by political scientists.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

What is an age set?

Accepted Answer

A)  a village council
B)  a pantribal sodality that represents a certain level of achievement in the society, much like the stages of an undergraduate's progress through college
C)  all men and women related by virtue of patrilineal descent from a human apical ancestor
D)  all men and women related by virtue of matrilineal descent from a nonhuman apical ancestor
E)  a group uniting men born during a certain span of time in some pastoral African societies

Question 15

In the anthropological study of political systems, social control maintains social norms (cultural standards) and regulates conflict.Which of the following is NOT a form of social control?

Accepted Answer

A)  hegemony
B)  shame
C)  making subordinates believe they will eventually gain power
D)  exogamy
E)  gossip

Question 16

In chiefdoms, individuals are ranked according to seniority, but everyone is believed to be descended from a common set of ancestors.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

In the Igbo women's war, women used song, dance, noise, and "in-your-face" behavior to attempt to subvert formal authority, but women did not gain any greater influence.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 18

Which of the following kinds of societies is most likely to have stratum endogamy (marriage within one's own group)?

Accepted Answer

A)  band
B)  state
C)  chiefdom
D)  society with segmentary lineage organization
E)  tribe

Question 19

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

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

A fiscal system includes the judges, laws, and courts that resolve conflicts.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Exam 8: Political Systems

The Inuit song battle is

The status systems of chiefdoms and states are similar, in that both are based on differential access to resources.Nevertheless, a key distinction is that

How does a big man increase his status?

Most band and tribal societies in the world today are completely cut off from the rest of the world.

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

In an ethnographic field study of political systems in northern Mozambique, Nicholas Kottak found that avoiding shame can be an effective control against breaking social norms.This example of how shame can be a powerful social sanction

The Yanomami of Venezuela and Brazil have descent groups, which span more than one village and are

How does Morton Fried define political organization? Why does Kottak prefer to use the term sociopolitical organization in discussing the regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives?

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

Noting that chiefdoms created the megalithic cultures of Europe, such as the one that built Stonehenge, Kottak reminds us that

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

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.

The anthropological approach to the study of political systems and organization is global and comparative and includes nonstates as well as the states and nation-states usually studied by political scientists.

What is an age set?

In the anthropological study of political systems, social control maintains social norms (cultural standards) and regulates conflict.Which of the following is NOT a form of social control?

In chiefdoms, individuals are ranked according to seniority, but everyone is believed to be descended from a common set of ancestors.

In the Igbo women's war, women used song, dance, noise, and "in-your-face" behavior to attempt to subvert formal authority, but women did not gain any greater influence.

Which of the following kinds of societies is most likely to have stratum endogamy (marriage within one's own group) ?

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

A fiscal system includes the judges, laws, and courts that resolve conflicts.