The Origins of Democracy in Tribes, City-States and Nation-States

Abstract

Preface -- Theoretical Framework -- Weberian Methodology -- Aristotelian Theory -- Evolutionary Anthropology -- Feminist Theory -- The Comparative-Historical Framework -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- Contents of Volume I -- Contents of Volume II -- Introduction -- States of Nature: Philosophical -- Homo Politicus: Humans as Group Animals -- The Roman and Chinese Empires -- Europe After the Decline of the Roman Empire and the Invasion of the Norse Tribes -- The State of Nature -- States of Nature: Scientific -- Scientific States of Nature: Homo sapiens as Animal and Human Being -- What We Can Learn from the Study of Animals -- The Politics of Group Animals: Domination, the Pecking Order, Territoriality, and Male-Female Differentiation -- Homo sapiens: The Species that Knows -- The Special Characteristics of Human Beings -- Consciousness and the Human Political Process -- The Discussion Group: Democracy Emerges as a Purely Human Process of Politics -- The Origins of Democracy -- The Discussion Council in Human Bands: Campfire Democracy -- The Divergence of Human Politics from Animal Politics -- Biological Evolution vs. Human History -- History vs. Socio-history -- Human Biological Evolution -- Human Socio-history Begins -- The End of the Ice Age and Its Ramifications -- Contemporary Hunter-Gatherers -- Tribes, City-States, and Kingly-Bureaucratic Empires -- Notes -- Part I: The Emergence of Democracy in Bands and Tribes -- Section 1: Band Society: Campfire Democracy with Informal Leadership Roles -- 1: Civilizational Peculiarities Versus Ideal Typicalities -- 2: Social Structure and Conflict Groups -- The Band -- Territory -- Fusion and Fission -- Alliances: Reciprocal Exogamous Marriage -- Band Versus Family -- The Pairing Family and Private Property -- Hunting and The Rise of the All-­Male Discussion Council -- Primitive Democracy