Political Power and Information: A Cross‐Cultural Study¹

Abstract

It is hypothesized that the degree of political power is functionally related to the number of structural levels at which politically relevant information is stored and retrieved within a political system. “Political power” is measured by the degree of control intensity over warfare, adjudication, appointment, wealth, and human labor; while hierarchically structured “political teams” are viewed as the units that store and vertically transmit information. The hypothesis is tested cross‐culturally, and the results reported in the study. The evidence strongly supports the hypothesis. In addition, partial correlations are computed in order to control for diffusion, data quality, and coding inaccuracy.