African Political Systems

African Political Systems is a foundational work in the field of anthropology and political science, edited by Meyer Fortes and E. E. Evans-Pritchard. First published in 1940, the book offers a comparative study of governance structures across various African societies, challenging earlier Western assumptions about political organization in non-Western cultures. Through a series of in-depth case studies, the book explores the diversity of political systems in African societies—ranging from stateless societies with decentralized authority to centralized kingdoms with hierarchical governance. It covers communities such as the Nuer, Zulu, and Bemba, revealing how political order is maintained through kinship ties, rituals, alliances, and local customs. Each chapter demonstrates how these systems reflect the unique cultural, social, and economic conditions of the communities they govern. The editors introduce key anthropological concepts, including the distinction between "primitive" and "modern" political systems, although later scholarship has criticized some of these categories. Nevertheless, African Political Systems remains a pioneering effort in understanding political organization outside the Western context, and it continues to influence research in anthropology, history, and political theory. With its rich ethnographic insights, the book offers readers an invaluable perspective on governance, authority, and social cohesion across Africa, making it an essential text for those interested in cross-cultural political studies.

This work, which involved the collaboration of leading figures in the field of social anthropology, undertakes the comparative study of African political systems, as an example of the wider field of the study of political institutions in traditional societies in general. The book is based upon file studies of eight African societies - the Zulu, the Ngwato, the Bemba, the Kindgom of Ankole, the Kede, the Bantu, the Tallensi and the Nuer - in which the types of social organization found are described, and the principles underlying these traditional forms of government are analyzed. African Political Systems is distinguished by being the study which largely established the comparative method as a primary instrument in anthropological investigation. First published in 1940, the continuing importance of the book lies in its illustration of the application of the comparative method, in the accounts of different African societies by distinguished anthropologists who were instrumental in establishing the field, and in the unique portraits it presents of traditional African societies at the end of the colonial era, poised upon the brink of an era of great change.