1. "The evolution of complex societies is one of the most interesting questions in all of the social sciences. How can a species long adapted to living in small egalitarian groups evolve revolutionary new social institutions that lead them to live in very large, highly in-egalitarian, social systems?"
2. What is socio-political organization?
   1. the structure of regulation of relations amonst groups
   2. dualisms
      1. political
      2. social
3. S-P Organization
   1. Egalitarian
      1. Bands
      2. Tribes
   2. Non-Egalitarian
      1. Chiefdoms
      2. States
4. Weaknesses of these categories
   1. overlap
   2. modernocentric
   3. based on a modern value system
   4. origins in "reductive scientific enlightenment"
   5. too easy, not terribly descriptive
5. Egalitarian Societies
   1. equal access to resources
      1. food sharing
   2. political power
   3. permanent leaders are rare
   4. Status
      1. Achieved Status
         1. Barack Obama
         2. Jackson Family
      2. Ascribed Status
         1. Paris Hilton
         2. Burial Goods of Children
            1. well, they didn't get it from achievement
            2. probably born into it
            3. lavish burial goods denote ascribed status generally
   5. bands of tribes
   6. voting with your feet
   7. no physical coercion
6. Tribes
   1. different kind of styles
      1. hunter-gatherers
      2. sendentary
      3. pastoralists
   2. larger groups
   3. leaders have no power of physical coercion
   4. monopoly over use of force
7. Non-Egalitarian Societies
   1. unequal access to resources
   2. social hierarchy
      1. strict castes
      2. capitalist class system
      3. ancestor born status ala china
   3. wealth and status accumulated
      1. ascribed generally only exists here.
   4. permanent leaders and offices
      1. power exists as a concept similar to a monistic god
8. Chiefdom
   1. farmers or pastoralists
   2. villages/towns
   3. ranked societies
   4. wealth accumulation by high ranked people and chiefs
   5. inherited office of 'chief'
      1. ancestor born ranking
      2. how far are you from the chief's lineage?
      3. voted chiefs are not "chiefs"
   6. god-chiefs exist in polynesia
      1. mana
      2. divine right of kingdom