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▶ government organization
introduction
Th e word government comes from the Greek word kybernan,
meaning “to steer.” Th roughout history human communi-
ties have exhibited a natural tendency to create a system that
steers people through chaos and prevents what the ancient
Romans called bellum omnium contra alles, or “the war of all
against all.”
Th e earliest human communities had no real system of
government as the term is understood in modern life. Early
hunter-gatherers lived and traveled in small bands, and to
the extent that anyone ruled, it was primarily by force. In
the daily struggle for simple survival, the person in a small
community who emerged as the strongest would most likely
assume a leadership role. Such a person would have been
able to help the community acquire valuable resources such
as food, and in the event of confl ict with competing tribes,
the strongest, most forceful member of the community could
provide valuable military leadership. Th is system of govern-
ment continued to exist throughout the ancient world, and
indeed forms of it exist in the 21st century. Sometimes called
the “force theory” of government, it led to tribal leaders and
warlords who seized control over a certain area and of the
people who lived in that area. Such a system existed, for ex-
ample, in the ancient Americas, where warlords held power
in chiefdoms.
Force and strength, though, were not the only sources
of power. In some cultures, such as that of ancient Japan,
shamans and other religious leaders held power. Th eir sub-
jects believed that shamans possessed magical infl uence
with the gods, so they were the rightful rulers. Similarly, in
some cultures, such as the Aborigines of Australia, no for-
mal government existed, but tribal elders held power because
the community believed that these elders possessed ancient
wisdom.
A repeated theme in discussions of the ancient world is
the profound impact of the development of agriculture. When
ancient cultures turned to agriculture rather than strictly
hunting and gathering, they became what historians called
“sedentary.” Th is word does not mean that they were lazy or
inactive. It means that people, instead of moving around in
search of food, settled in more or less permanent communi-
ties, where they could tend fi elds and livestock and cultivate
crops.
In time, those small villages and hamlets grew, and the
most prosperous among them evolved into towns and small
cities. Agriculture allowed people to store food surpluses;
they no longer had to survive day to day. Th is food surplus
enabled communities to support classes of people who were
not directly involved in food production, including a mili-
tary, civil servants, poets and artists, craft smen, and civic
leaders. Th us, it is fair to say that without the development
of agriculture, government and government organization
would not exist—or that they would exist in only the most
primitive forms.
In time, communities had to fi nd a way to ensure some
form of stability in their government. Th e alternative was re-
peated civil war, as a ruler would die and others would com-
pete for his position. Th e solution was heredity, with power
passed down usually from father to son, though the ancient
world provides noteworthy instances of women assuming
power. Further, many cultures’ history, mythology, and reli-
gious values supported the belief that rulers ruled by divine
right. Th at is, they were thought of as holding power that
came from the hands of the gods, and the rulers themselves
were oft en looked on as either gods themselves or as interme-
diaries between the gods and humans.
Th e result of this system of government was the emer-
gence of dynastic families, some of which ruled for hundreds
of years or longer. Good examples are the dynasties of an-
cient Egypt and China; in fact, historians identify periods of
ancient Egyptian and Chinese history by the family dynas-
ties that ruled. A ruling dynasty would come to an end forgovernment organization: introduction 507