A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems. However, this is a very simplified view of a much more complex system of categories involving the questions of who should have authority and what the government's influence on its people and economy should be.
Contents
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- 1Anthropological forms
- 2Political parties
- 3Sociology
- 4See also
- 5Notes
- 6References
- 7External links
Anthropological forms[edit]
Anthropologists generally recognize four kinds of political systems, two of which are uncentralized and two of which are centralized.[1]
- Uncentralized systems
- Band society
- Small family group, no larger than an extended family or clan; it has been defined as consisting of no more than 30 to 50 individuals.
- A band can cease to exist if only a small group walks out.
- Tribe
- Generally larger, consisting of many families. Tribes have more social institutions, such as a chief or elders.
- More permanent than bands. Many tribes are sub-divided into bands.
- Band society
- Centralized governments
- Chiefdom
- More complex than a tribe or a band society, and less complex than a state or a civilization
- Characterized by pervasive inequality and centralization of authority.
- A single lineage/family of the elite class becomes the ruling elite of the chiefdom
- Complex chiefdoms have two or even three tiers of political hierarchy.
- "An autonomous political unit comprising a number of villages or communities under the permanent control of a paramount chief"
- Sovereign state
- A sovereign state is a state with a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states.
- Chiefdom
- Supranational Political Systems
Supranational political systems are created by independent nations to reach a common goal or gain strength from forming an alliance.
