Political and Leadership Structure

• Politics


  Activities through which people make, preserve, and amend the general rules under which they live
• Politics


  Involves the dynamics of conflict resolution and cooperation, as well as the exercise of power
• Power


  The ability to do something to achieve a desired outcome
• Power


  Involves a relationship-there is one who exercises power and another who is subject to it
• Authority


  Legitimate power, where the person who has authority has the right to exercise power
• Citizen arrest


  The citizen can treat with proper evidence and trial
• Societies have political systems that function to manage public affairs, maintain social order, and resolve conflict
• The forms of these political systems are diverse, sometimes embedded in other social structures
• Political organization involves issues like allocation of political roles, levels of political integration, concentrations of power and authority, mechanisms of social control and resolving conflicts
• Political Organizations


  • Band
  • Tribe
  • Chiefdoms
  • State
• Aspects in maintaining social order

  • Creating formal norms
  • Applying sanctions (penalties)
  • Settling disputes among individuals
  • Settling disputes between/among nations
• Formal norms


  • Constitutional laws
  • Statutory laws
  • Common laws
• Social order should be maintained
• Band


  • Very small, oftentimes nomadic group connected by family ties and politically independent
  • Subsist through foraging
  • Little to no formal leadership
  • Decisions based on group consensus
• Tribe


  • Group of people related through blood ties, sharing common culture, language, and territory
  • Exhibit social, economic, and political organization
  • Shared ancestry and kinship
  • Shared culture and traditions
  • Shared territory or resource base
  • Political and social organization
• Tribes


  • Igorots and Lumads of the Philippines
  • Maasai of East Africa
  • Huli of Papua New Guinea
• Chiefdoms


  • Political units with centralized leadership headed by a chief or council of chiefs
  • Exhibit social stratification with clear hierarchies
  • Power and authority based on kinship
  • Function through redistribution systems
  • Chiefs believed to be endowed with supernatural power
• Chiefdoms


  • Maranao sultanate and T'boli of Mindanao
  • Maori (New Zealand)
  • Akan People (Ghana and Ivory Coast)
• Nation


  Large group of people who share a sense of collective identity, often arising from shared history, culture, language, ethnicity, and territory
• State


  • A political unit that encompasses several communities, has a bureaucracy, and has leaders that possess legitimate powers
  • Exerts supreme authority over a defined territory
  • Has sovereignty, population, and government
• Types of states


  • Unitary states with central government
  • Federal states with power divided between central and regional authorities
  • Confederations of independent states cooperating on specific matters
• Legitimacy


  Justification for state's authority, can be based on history, tradition, consent of the government, or effectiveness in providing security and well-being
• Challenges to statehood include consented borders, stateless societies, and internal conflict
• The forms and functions of states have continuously evolved in response to socio-economic changes, technological advancements, and global interconnectedness
• Leaders of states have more responsibilities such as the maintenance of law and order, securing the state territory, engaging in international relations, and preserving social control
• Legitimacy


  Rightfulness that confers on an order or command an authoritative or binding character, transforming power into authority
• Traditional Authority


  • Authority is based on a system that is believed to have "always existed"
  • Legitimacy is based on long-established customs and traditions
• Traditional Authority


  • Authority exercised by elders in a tribe or indigenous people's group
  • Authority exercised by monarchs who have inherited their power
• Charismatic Authority


  • Based on the presumed special and extraordinary characteristics or qualities possessed by a certain individual
  • Leaders are popular, highly persuasive, and inspire loyalty and obedience
  • Considered a gift or innate quality, but can also be manufactured through propaganda
• Charismatic Leaders


  • Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Mao Tse Tung, John F. Kennedy, Margaret Thatcher, Ramon Magsaysay
• Rational-legal Authority


  • Power and authority legitimized by a clearly defined set of written rules and laws
  • Leaders can rightfully wield authority if they obtain their positions according to established procedures
• Forms of Legitimate Government


  • Communism
  • Constitutionalism
  • Democracy
  • Fascism
  • Monarchy