Re: decision-making structures in tribal societies

<<< heron stone:
I'm curious how group decisions are arrived at in tribal
societies, particularly in isolated, preliterate, pre-
electric groups of less than 200-300.

I suppose it would be quite different for hunter-gatherers
as compared from agricultural groups.

Is there a wide variety of structures observed or a more
limited number of "types"?

I'd be very interested in any suggested readings, and
also to hear your input.
>>>
<< Joel Olson:
There is an overview/classification by community size in
Jared Diamond, Guns Germs and Steel
>>
< Erik Landriaut:
How about some readings on the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert  (lots of
reading on this -- howell, shostak, lenski) or -- on the "ache" (hill and
hurtado on this subject)

i think as far as the organization of society goes... the less technology...
the more similarity there is between individual lives in that one society,
however the different societies are much more differentiated. as
technology improves (take the world today for example) -- the less
differentiated lives in societies are... but people within the society lead
very different lives from one another.
>

Durkheim (The Division of Labor in Society, 1893) argues for:
"The more primitive societies are, the more resemblances there are
between the individuals from which they have been formed.", citing
Hippocrates, Von Humbolt (Neuspanien) and Waitz. How the argument
has fared since then, I don't know. This was a coincidence of bedside
reading.  :-)

Diamond devotes Chapter 14, From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy, to the
discussion of the transition from Band (dozens) to Tribe (hundreds) to
Chiefdom (thousands) to State (> 50,000) forms. He characterizes
decision making in bands as "egalitarian" and tribes as "egalitarian or
big-man" and cautions that the term
   "should not be taken to mean that all band members are equal
    in prestige and contribute equally to decisions. Rather, the term
    merely means that any band "leadership" is informal and acquired
    through qualities such as personality, strength, intelligence, and
    fighting skills."

JD recommends books by Elman Service, Morton Fried, and Karl Wittfogel,
and review articles by Kent Flannery, and Henry Wright, as well as items
more narrowly focused. I'd welcome hearing about anything on how
mainstream sociology regards this.