THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



DECEMBER, 1880. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



By HERBERT SPENCER. 

 II. POLITICAL OBGANIZATION IN GENERAL. 



THE mere gathering of individuals into a group does not constitute 

 them a society. A society, in the sociological sense, is formed 

 only when, besides juxtaposition, there is cooperation. So long as 

 members of the group do not combine their energies to achieve some 

 common end or ends, there is little to keep them together. They are 

 prevented from separating only when the wants of each are better 

 satisfied by uniting his efforts with those of others than they would 

 be if he acted alone. 



Cooperation, then, is at once that which can not exist without a 

 society, and that for Avhich a society exists. It may be a joining of 

 many strengths to effect something which the strength of no single 

 man can effect ; or it may be an apportioning of different activities 

 to different persons, who severally participate in the benefits of one 

 another's activities. The motive for acting together, originally the 

 dominant one, may be defense against enemies ; or it may be the 

 easier obtainment of food, by the chase or otherwise ; or it may be, 

 and commonly is, both of these. In any case, however, the units pass 

 from the state of perfect independence to the state of mutual depen- 

 dence ; and as fast as they do this they become united into a society 

 rightly so called. 



But cooperation implies organization. If acts are to be effectually 

 combined, there must be arrangements under which they are adjusted 

 in their times, amounts, and characters. 



This social organization, necessary as a means to concerted action, 

 is of two kinds. Though these two kinds generally coexist, and are 



TOL. XVIII. 10 



