1.3 The Structure of Power

While the formation and structure of governing systems certainly falls within the topic of politics, perhaps the most fundamental issue with regard to politics is the nature of power: who has power and how is that power both exercised and maintained? Indeed, power underlies the formation and rationalization of governments, and it often shapes the relationship between the individual and the state. Therefore, this semester we explore how and why governments are formed, as well as how the rights and responsibilities of the individual are shaped.

Some questions to consider as we move through the earliest civilizations include:

• How was the government structured?
• What was the role of the king, the bureaucracy, and the individual in that government?
• How did rulers use political power to shape, expand, or transform society?

Ancient Economies

This topic is somewhat self-explanatory; however, we need to keep in mind that economics or economic systems do not exist in a vacuum. That is, the economic life of a particular society is very often dependent on a number of factors, including: access to both natural and man-made resources, the advent of war or conflict between civilizations, and the political goals of the government in power. By considering economics as just one part of an inter-connected whole, we can begin to more fully appreciate the role of economics in the success or failure of any given society.

Some questions to consider as you read about the earliest civilizations:

• How were the economic lives of people living in these societies influenced by geography? Politics? Religion?
• In what ways did economics impact the survival of these civilizations?
• Did economics play a role in these societies’ eventual decline?

Society and Culture

This category is a bit difficult to define. What do we mean by society? What do we mean by culture? Rather than delve into a complex theoretical discussion, let’s simply agree that society refers to how a particular civilization is organized by class, gender and ethnicity, while culture encompasses both artistic and intellectual pursuits. Like economics, the social organization and cultural output of any given society is often influenced by other factors, such as religion, politics and economics. Indeed, social organization and cultural output reflect the priorities, the beliefs, and the values of the civilization in which they exist. As such, by examining society and culture, we gain a deeper understanding of the mind-set of those who lived in the past.

Consider the development of culture, in particular, through stories and myths. Keep the following questions in mind as your read and watch the related videos:

• How were these ancient civilizations organized? How and why did the roles and contributions of men and women in those societies differ? What does the social organization of each tell us about the mindset of these ancient peoples?
• What were the key intellectual and artistic products of the ancient civilizations? How, when, and why did writing develop? Why is the development of writing significant? What impact did it have on the progress or advancement of Western Civilization? How do we see this progress reflected?

Ancient Religions

According to the American Heritage English Dictionary (5th edition, 2015), religion may be defined as: (a) Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers, regarded as creating and governing the universe, (b) A particular variety of such belief, especially when organized into a system of doctrine and practice or (c) A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.

For our purposes, we concentrate on the first two parts of this definition: the belief in and reverence for a supernatural power and the institutionalization of those beliefs through ritual and doctrine. A great deal of our time this semester will be spent discussing the development of various religious systems, and their wider impact on politics and daily life. Indeed, for the peoples who inhabited the Ancient and Medieval worlds, religion governed nearly every aspect of their lives; it was not separate from government, economics, society or culture. Thus, a study of religious belief systems reveals a great deal about the societies in which those systems flourished.

Consider the following questions as you read:

• How did the polytheistic belief systems of Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Mesopotamia differ from the religion of the Hebrews?
• What factors (political, social, and cultural) might help explain those differences?