political anthropology
political anthropology
that part of social anthropology which focuses on the study of the POLITICAL PROCESSES and political institutions in SIMPLE SOCIETIES. As well as being a particular focus within social anthropology, the study of the politics of simpler societies is also an essential part of POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY.A distinguishing feature of the political systems of simpler societies is that they do not always exist as a differentiated set of relatively specialized, explicitly political, institutions as they do in modern state societies (see SEGMENTARY SOCIETY, STATELESS SOCIETY).