Modeling the Evolution of Bureaucracy: Political-Economic Reach and Administrative Complexity
Journal Title: Social Evolution & History - Year 2014, Vol 13, Issue 1
Abstract
It is argued that bureaucracy originated when primary (first-generation) states emerged in a context of interacting chiefdoms, without contact with pre-existing states. A model of the transition from chiefdom to primary state highlights the importance of territorial expansion in this evolutionary process. A related issue is how peoples who successfully resist incorporation can help shape the developmental trajectory of an expanding state. A model of the dynamic between an expanding polity and its neighbors suggests that the effectiveness of incorporation is positively related not simply to the size of the expanding polity, but rather to a positive rate of change in the expanding polity's growth relative to that of resisting polities. Variable relationships of incorporation and resistance will cause the shape of the expanding state's growth trajectory to be not regular and symmetric, but instead asymmetric and non-uniform. Empirical data from several cases of primary state formation are consistent with the expectations of the territorial-expansion model. Some practical implications of this model for contemporary considerations of international relations and global sustainability are considered.
Authors and Affiliations
Charles S. Spencer
Keywords
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