Anthropology - politics and law vocab

Power
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Terms in this set (41)
Power
The ability to influence somebody in the way they desire - "just enability"
Force
How you execute power
Authority
An individual/group of individuals whose decisions are usually followed by a majority of the group
Leader
individual who makes a decision and leads in the execution of the decision
4 Attributes of Law
Authority, Intention of Universal Application, Obligatio, Sanction
Obligatio
That part of the decision that states the rights of one party to a dispute and the duties of another.
Sanction
Either a negative device which withdraws rewards or favors that otherwise if the law had not been violated, would have been granted; OR a positive measure which inflicts some painful experience, either physical or psychological
Comparative Law
Study of law by comparing law of one society to another
State
Political unit with a definite territory, organized under a single government, which is NOT subject to external control, having a hierarchical society, structure, and a governmental monopoly on the use of force. There is security against external threats and is more organized, but there is not much freedom from government.
Pristine states
States that developed state society ON THEIR OWN (ex. China, Mesopotamia, India)
Internal Conflict TheoryMarx - conflict is a basic structural condition of society - an inherent part of human relations. Political power is the result of economic power.External Conflict TheoryHerbert Spencer - suggested that conflict is a natural process which contributes to social evolution.Carniero's TheoryCircumscribed Environment - Forced to form a state society due to entrapped environment (geographically)Wittfogel's Hydraulic TheoryCivilizations whose agriculture was dependent upon large-scale waterworks for irrigation and flood control were called "hydraulic civilizations" (ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China and pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru)Corporationsencourages business activity to take place, as you are not PERSONALLY at risk - legal fiction (ex. adoption)Legal DecisionStatement by a legal authority by which a dispute is dissolved or a party/parties is advised before legally relevant behavior takes place (declaratory decision) or by which approval is given to a previous solution of a dispute made by the participants before they brought dispute to the intention of an authorityDeclaratory decisionyou can go to a judge BEFORE you take dispute to the attention of authorityCodified Lawwritten and organized lawSong Rule2 people duel between each other with songs - it is NOT law - no authorityAdjudicationLaw - legal decision with mediationNuerpeople of Africa - cattle, people - ghost marriage ideaTerritoriality lawlaw is applied according to territoryPersonality Lawlaw is applied according to social status (ex. Roman times)Legalisman extreme emphasis upon abstract rules which are regarded as the objective revelation of a legislature's will and as the exclusive manifestation and source of law. The individual rules themselves are seen as the exclusive and concrete answers to particular disputes.Analogia LegisIf you don't have a rule that applies, you apply by analogy another ruleReligionA system of beliefs in non-phenomenal, non empirically verifiable power, vested in a supernatural being or a philosophy, creed, or theory; an emotional attachment to a creed.MagicConsists of acts directed to practical ends based upon a belief in a non-empirical (supernatural) connection between the act and the (occasional) desired effectPhilosophyrational, uses reason and argument - is not connected to emotion - NOT empiricalRitualConventionalized, formal, and symbolic act which serves to change status (ex. Baptism, marriage, funeral, commencement)Ceremonyconventionalized, formal, and symbolic act which reaffirms and maintains statusCalendrical CeremonyGo with the calendar - happens MOST in agricultural societies due to the seasonsAnimismBelief in spirits - everything is alive/possessed by a spirit (not scary possessed) - true for many societies (ex. Hmongs)GodAn individual who may be anthropormorphic, zoomorphic, amorphic; of super human powers, non-phenomenal existence, whose prayers are drected and is qualitatively far superior than spiritsAnimatismBelief in amorphous supernatural power which permeated to some degree most objects - (mana)Manalike an electrical charge, mana can be transferred - a person with little mana can be destroyed with contact to someone with greater mana; mana can be destroyed by touch to polluted object - inherited bi lineally (Polynesia)Counting coupshows bravery - it's important because theser are warfare society - striking enemy=best way to count coupPigmiesall males are under 5 feet tall - all are found in Tropics - don't need many resourcesPanchayatpolitical/governmental organization - caste - a legal authority that settles legal disputesTribeJoining of political groups under one political authority!Kung"egalitarian" society in Kalahari Desert in AfricaKpelleChiefdom in Liberia - use degree of kinship to the paramount chief to measure status