elders, chiefs, and Big Men: authority legitimation and political evolution in Melanesia

This paper provides, from an evolutionary perspective, a comparative typology of Melanesian political systems. The range covered extends from small‐scale polities in which political action is deeply interwoven with the fabric of kinship to those of increased scale, specialization, differentiation, and hierarchy. Perhaps surprisingly, it is found that those communities in which matrilineal principles are accorded importance are also those with the most elaborate and complex forms of political association: in particular, ranked descent groups, hereditary titular systems, voluntary secret societies, and elaborate status hierarchies based on achievement. [political evolution, leadership, matriliny, secret societies, social stratification, Melanesia, Vanuatu]