Anthropology Assignment: Comparing Societies and Political Systems

This anthropology assignment explores the concept of stateless societies, defining them as societies without formal political offices and relying on informal mechanisms for social order, such as the Big Man system. The assignment contrasts political status achievement in Papua New Guinea, where leadership is earned through persuasion and reputation, with societies in Africa and the Eastern Pacific, where political status is often inherited. It highlights the qualities required for success in Papua New Guinea, including being a good listener, persuasive, and possessing empathy and charisma. The assignment also draws parallels between the Moka ceremony and US presidential debates, focusing on the importance of wealth display and the competitive nature of vying for influence. The solution references the article "The 'Big Men' of Papua New Guinea & Their Western Counterpart" and provides a comprehensive overview of the key concepts.

Running head: ANTHROPOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 1
Anthropology Assignment
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ANTHROPOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 2
Anthropology Assignment
1. Stateless society means societies with no specialized or formal political offices or
institutions, where political functions remain performed as well as social order is sustained via
informal mechanisms as well as the activities of generalized social institutions, for example, the
Big MAN System. The term stateless society is often applied to segmented or acephalous
societies, which do not have a centralized state authority. There is no specialized political role in
Stateless society. By specialized I mean formal, named, as well as recognized roles that remain
played by authorities, not by all members of the society. In stateless societies, there remains little
concentration of power or authority. Most of the positions are not permanently-held. Also, some
of the social institutions that resolve the dispute via predefined rules are often small. Stateless
societies remain highly variable in cultural practices and economic organization.
2. In New Guinea, political is an egalitarian form of political and social behavior in that
all men remain equal, and no man has power over the other. The political is determined through
informal processes (Campbell, 2016). An individual is selected for this leadership role based on
her or his power persuasion. In this society, power remains open to all people; it is not a must
that an individual should have a relative to help in paving the road to leadership position. To be
at any position, Big Men have to build their reputation using all the available opportunities in the
society. Whereas in Eastern Pacific and Africa, political remains formal systems inherited right
from birth. People do not have to build their names to be at the leadership position. Leadership
positions is being pass from one generation to the next using the family status. In most cases,
firstborn remain considered as leaders.
3. He must be a good listener and a powerful speaker. He must be Persuasive and good at
managing people. He must have empathy and charisma.

ANTHROPOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 3
4. In this article, the author compares the ceremony of Moka with the US presidential
debates in the following ways:
The Big Man must possess more wealth as compared to others so that he may give away
in a lavish ceremony, where man resides with other people in a decorative environment
(Campbell, 2016). The stage is often painted with feathers and pig fat. But in the United States,
the stage remains decorated with decorative light and looks like things that are being viewed on
the television. The attire is often chosen depending on the message that they are delivering to the
people. It is true that vying to be the loudest in the society has increasingly become a key
characteristic of US presidential debates.

ANTHROPOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 4
References
Campbell, S. (2016). The 'Big Men' of Papua New Guinea & Their Western Counterpart. 1-4.
https://www.zegrahm.com/blog/big-men-papua-new-guinea-their-western-counterpart