Political Organization/

Authority and Legitimacy

Learning Competency:
Analyze social and political structure
 Political Organizations
Bands and Tribes are considered as
the simplest political systems. They
are often perceived without a well-
defined system of leadership.
 Band
 is usually small, formed by several families
living together; oftentimes moving from one
place to other to search for food.
 Bands are equal egalitarian, meaning, all
families are equal.
 There is no class differentiation based on
wealth; however, status differences based on
gender and age is well-defined.
There is no leadership, instead, those
who possess special skills and knowledge
can be raised to become informal leader.
As the population of bands increases, the
tendency of conflict increases. The
conflict leads to “band fissioning” or
band splitting.
 Tribe (tribu)
Is more complex and larger than
a band.
As the population increases,
there is a shifting from a basic
form of livelihood to a multiple
way of living.
Tribe is organized through pantribal
associations in the form of councils, tribal
leaders, elders, etc. due to the presence of
the multiple communities in a tribe.
Tribe is commonly is commonly headed
by a village headman who perform
leadership roles but has limited political
power. Most tribes remain egalitarian.
 Chiefdom
Has more defined political organization.
Chiefdom have more or less permanent,
fulltime leader with real authority to make
major decisions.
These leaders are referred to as the “chief”.
Formal leadership exists and authority
rests solely on the members of a select
family.
It is composed of a number of
communities that is rules by a
permanent paramount chief coming
from this elite family. Power is
inherited.
Chiefdom can either be simple
chiefdom or complex chiefdom.
 Simple Chiefdom
Is characterized by a single
village or community rules
by a single family.
 Complex Chiefdom
Is composed of several simple
chiefdoms ruled by a single
paramount chief residing in a
single paramount center.
State and Nation
The advent of modernity has made the process
of consolidating different individuals into one
political community more difficult and
complicated.
Out of the breakdown of political organizations,
what emerged was the presence of groups of
people that shared a common history, language,
customs, habits, and ethnicity. These groups are
collectively referred to as nations.
On the other hand, a state is a
political unit consisting a
government that has sovereignty
presiding over a group of people and
a well-defined territory and has the
highest form of political
organization.
 Quiz:1/2 crosswise
1. Discuss the relationship between the rule
of law and the legitimacy of a political
system. How does the rule of law contribute
to the establishment of a stable and just
political order?