Section: Social Complexity
Subsection: Bureaucracy characteristics

Full Time Bureaucrat

full-time bureaucrats refer to full-time administrative specialists. code this absent if administrative duties are performed by generalists such as chiefs and subchiefs. also code it absent if state officials perform multiple functions, e.g. combining administrative tasks with military duties. note that this variable shouldn't be coded 'present' only on the basis of the presence of specialized government buildings; there must be some additional evidence of functional specialization in government.   (See here)
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Variable Definition
Polity The Seshat Polity ID
Year(s) The years for which we have the data. [negative = BCE]
Tag [Evidenced, Disputed, Suspected, Inferred, Unknown]
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Variable Definition
full_time_bureaucrat The absence or presence of full time bureaucrat for a polity.

# Polity Year(s) Full Time Bureaucrat Description   Edit
481
(Early Tana 1)
Full Year Range of Early Tana 1 is assumed.
[500, 749]
present
EMPTY_COMMENT
482
(Early Tana 1)
Full Year Range of Early Tana 1 is assumed.
[500, 749]
present
"A central hierarchy or ruling strata to control social relations and enforce political order would be necessary to co-ordinate the market workforce and other important functional relations of the site. The existence of an administration can be inferred firstly from the general organisation. The sheer scale of economic activities strongly suggests that such a central paramount authority was established. Secondly, the higher returns that spilled out from the wealth in circulation and increase in the output from craft production and transportation must have provided adequate stimuli for wealthy and elite groups to exercise their control over these sectors and consequently promote the growth of social hierarchy and differentiation." [Juma 2004]
483
(Early Tana 2)
Full Year Range of Early Tana 2 is assumed.
[750, 999]
present
EMPTY_COMMENT
484
(Early Tana 2)
Full Year Range of Early Tana 2 is assumed.
[750, 999]
present
"The noticeable decline in the import and internal output of this period set against the expansion of the site and population is an expression of increased complexity that may imply a division of labour that relocated the centres for craftwork to elsewhere, away from the Unguja Ukuu site as the public core area for political functions, administration and defence. This must have overtly distinguished Unguja Ukuu as a seat of urban conduct with an aggregation of buildings, groups of immigrants bringing in the old coinage, a market for subsistence resources from the periphery, and providing services to the population within the site territory and beyond." [Juma 2004]
485
(Sena Dynasty)
Full Year Range of Sena Dynasty is assumed.
[1095, 1245]
present
Increasingly, government officers were paid by being assigned to lands which they could manage and earn revenue from, rather than in cash, and thus became part of the samanta class. However, hereditary chiefs “gradually assumed many of the functions of government. They not only assessed and collected land revenue, but also assumed more and more administrative powers, such as the right of awarding punishments and exacting fines on their own, which earlier were generally considered royal privileges. They assumed the right to sublet their land to their followers without the prior permission of the ruler, thus increasing the number of people who drew sustenance from land without working on it themselves.” [Chandra 2007]
486
(Yadava-Varman Dynasty)
Full Year Range of Yadava-Varman Dynasty is assumed.
[1080, 1150]
present
Increasingly, government officers were paid by being assigned to lands which they could manage and earn revenue from, rather than in cash, and thus became part of the samanta class. However, hereditary chiefs “gradually assumed many of the functions of government. They not only assessed and collected land revenue, but also assumed more and more administrative powers, such as the right of awarding punishments and exacting fines on their own, which earlier were generally considered royal privileges. They assumed the right to sublet their land to their followers without the prior permission of the ruler, thus increasing the number of people who drew sustenance from land without working on it themselves.” [Chandra 2007]
487
(Axum II)
Full Year Range of Axum II is assumed.
[350, 599]
present
Government officials, scribes, coiners. [Connah 2015, p. 141] "Leading chiefs as well as civil servants managed the administration." [Falola 2002, p. 60]
488
(Axum III)
Full Year Range of Axum III is assumed.
[600, 800]
present
Government officials, scribes, coiners. [Connah 2015, p. 141] "Leading chiefs as well as civil servants managed the administration." [Falola 2002, p. 60]
489
(Banu Ghaniya)
Full Year Range of Banu Ghaniya is assumed.
[1126, 1227]
present
None
490
(Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period)
Full Year Range of Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period is assumed.
[-488, -223]
present
"Around 445 BC, Wei started the new wave of self-strengthening reforms by systematizing preexisting practices and introducing innovative institutions." [Hui 2005, p. 85] "In short, during Qin's early ascendance, all other great powers introduced various elements of self-strengthening reforms such as the mass army, national taxation, household registration, and hierarchical administration." [Hui 2005, p. 86]
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