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In the polytheistic religion of present day Taiwan, different deity cults compete for control over ritual territory, and for the allegiance of worshippers. Success or failure in this competition may result in a change in rank of the gods involved and the spread of their cults to new areas. Where the dynamic nature of this process has been noted, the question of ranking gods often partakes of a circular logic: Gods are popular because they are powerful and they are powerful because they are popular. Such an explanation fails to account for the reason why some gods change rank readily while others may remain fixed in static hierarchies.
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Philip Chesley Baity (1977) studied this question.
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