Page 363 - Essencials of Sociology

336 Chapter 11 politics and the economy

11.2 Compare monarchies,
democracies, dictatorships, and types of Government
oligarchies.
How do the various types of government—monarchies, democracies, dictatorships, and
oligarchies—differ? As we compare them, let’s also look at how the state arose and why
routinization of charisma the the concept of citizenship was revolutionary.
transfer of authority from a charis-
matic figure to either a traditional Monarchies: The Rise of the State
or a rational–legal form of authority
Early societies were small and needed no extensive political system. They operated more
city-state an independent city
whose power radiates outward, like an extended family. As surpluses developed and societies grew larger, cities evolved—
bringing the adjacent area under perhaps around 3500 B.C. (Ur 2010). City-states then came into being, with power
its rule radiating outward from the city like a spider’s web. Although the ruler of each city
monarchy a form of government controlled the immediate surrounding area, the land between cities remained
headed by a king or queen in dispute. Each city-state had its own monarchy, a king or queen whose
right to rule was passed on to the monarch’s children. If you drive
This classic painting, “Siege at through Spain, France, or Germany, you can still see evidence
Yorktown” by Louis Coulder, depicts
George Washington and Jean de
Rochambeau giving the final orders for
the attack on Yorktown in 1781. This
turned out to be the decisive battle of
the American Revolution, allowing the
fledgling U.S. democracy to proceed.