Political Evolution and the Development

of Early Civilization
 Political Evolution and the Development
of Early Civilization

• Sumerian Civilization
• Indus Valley Civilization
• Shang Civilization
• Egyptian Civilization
Characteristics of Civilization

• Developed and highy advanced cities

• Well-defined city centers
• Complex and systematic institutions
• Organized and centralized system of government
• Formalized a complex form of origin
• Job specialization
• Development of social classes/structure
Characteristics of Civilization

• Implementation of large-scale public works and

infrastructure like defense walls, monuments,
temples, mausoleums, government edifices,
trading centers and markets.
• Sophisticated and detailed forms of arts and
architectures
• Advanced technology
• System of writing and recording
 Social Class Sumer Egypt Indus Valley Shang

Political leader and Priests and royalty Pharoah Brahim King priest
highest social class

Other social classes 1. Wealthy 1. government 1. Kshatriyas Working class

merchants 2.Soldiers 2. Vaisyas (farmers,
2. workers 3. Scribes 3. Sudras
4. Merchants 4. Pariah
craftsmen,
5. Craftsmen soldiers)
THEORIES ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

Proponent Ideas
Lewis Henry Morgan Three stages of development:
Savagery- nomadic and hunter-gathering lifestyle
Barbaric stage- people began agriculture and domestication of animals
Civilized stage- people learned writing
Freidrich Engels The accumulation of private property paved the way for the collapse of
primitive communities and establishment of class-based society

Herbert Spencer Social institutions evolve due to the struggle between social classes over
the means of production such as wealth and private property.

Franz Boas Human behavior is not rooted in biology but socially constructed, instead,
it is the product of environment and culture.
DIFFERENT FORMS OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT DEVELOPED OVERTIME

1. Band-level Societies- basically small and nomadic family group;

plainly organized

2. Tribes- more formal organizations, made up of bands connected

through a clan structure or kinship

3. Chiefdoms- made up of tribes united under one leader of chief

 Major Ideas on the Origin of State and Nature of Society:

a. Society is a natural institution which grew from human

interactions
b. Society is a product of a social contract which is an
agreement made by members of society that defines and
influences their interactions, particularly with those in
authority
c. Societies grew in stages and that the growth of societies
is related to the emergence of economic factors (this
third view is also referred to as “modernization theory”)