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Can Chimpanzee Politics Constitute a Political System?
In Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes, 1982, 2007, ("CP") the primatologist Frans de Waal argues that the animals he studied engage in a form of "political" behavior that is very much like the political behavior of humans. According to de Waal, "If we follow Harold Laswell's [sic] famous definition of politics as a social process determining 'who gets what, when, and how,' there can be little doubt that chimpanzees engage in it." (CP Preface ix) In his opinion, "the social dynamics [of chimp politics] are essentially the same" as human politics "in the office, in the political corridors of Washington, or in academic departments at the university." (Ibid, xvi)
Taking the point of view of political science, in this essay I will critically examine both de Waal's explicit claim that the chimpanzees he has studied engage in "politics," and the implication that such behavior rises to the level of a political system.
In his book, The Political System, David Easton criticizes Lasswell's definition of politics as too vague and broad to be useful for political science. (PS 122-124, 131f) If politics, as the struggle or competition for power, is something that can be observed in an office, in Washington hallways, and in university departments, then what is unique about political science? Every social science can claim to study politics under Lasswell's definition. Indeed, de Waal is a primatologist who credits himself with studying politics – ape politics.
Easton narrows the scope of political science, and gives its subject matter a more precise definition. He defines politics, for political science, as being concerned specifically with "how social policy is formed and executed." (PS 143) Therefore, contrary to Lasswell's definition, the general "struggle for power does not describe the central phenomena of political life [because] political life consists of those actions related to the authoritative allocation of values [for the whole society]." (PS 143) The process of allocating values authoritatively for a society constitutes a political system.
Under Easton's definition, then, the struggle in an academic department over what courses will be taught in the following year, and who will teach them, is not a "political" struggle, in the political science sense of the word, because it is not concerned with public policy formation, but only with the policy of one university department.
De Waal's book is based on observations of a band of chimpanzees at the Arnhem Zoo in the Netherlands over a six year period. (CP 5) The animals were kept on a plot of land surrounded by a moat. A heated building with sleeping quarters and play room was constructed on the island. The chimps lived inside the building during the cold and snowy Dutch winters.
As we will see, the Arnhem Zoo chimpanzees were intensely social, and clearly engaged in a struggle for something – but de Waal's explanation that the struggle is for political power is weakly supported at best by the facts he presents. Thus, I will argue that the behavior described by de Waal does not rise to the level of being "political" behavior under either Easton's or Lasswell's definitions, and that therefore a political system has not been achieved in this chimp society.
De Waal focuses his description of ape behavior primarily on the struggle for the alpha positon between the male chimps. Of course, by calling the object of their competition "the alpha position," the element of political power seems to be implied. For both Lasswell and Easton political power entails the capability of controlling the distribution of valued items. But the alpha male in the Arnhem colony actually has very little distribution capability. First, all the food is provided by the human keepers at the zoo. With only slight exception, to be discussed later, the alpha male has no power there. Second, the alpha male seeks to possess one or two females as his exclusive sexual mates. However, often on their own initiative, these females regularly duck out of sight with a rival male and engage in the forbidden pleasure. (CP 168-169, 173) So in practice his only power in this context is confined to chasing off suiters in his field of vision.
Since the chimps don't wear clothing, and shelter is provided, there is little of material value left for the alpha male to exercise power over. However, one of the uses of power the alpha male often undertakes is that of peace keeper. (CP117-118) The animals in the Arnhem colony are very aggressive. Fights often break out between males, between females, and between males and females. In a two year period "from 1976 through 1978 there were a total of thirty-seven serious fights between adult males." (CP 111) This was in a group with only four adult males. (CP 68) Without intervention, combative chimps can severely wound one another by biting with their panther-like canine teeth. But the group does not depend on the alpha male to do all the peace keeping. High ranking females also intervene to separate the parties to a squabble. Over all, de Waal recorded "nearly five thousand interventions in conflicts." (CP 188)
De Waal's description of chimp behavior shows that, despite their aggression, these creatures intensely value living together; that is, individuals highly prize communal life. They spend hours every day closely interacting. They especially enjoy sitting in small groups and "grooming" each other by picking bugs and dirt from under their companion's hair. Females sit together in groups and play with one another's infants. Males tend to be a little more active, and chase each other around, playfully wrestle, or scramble up trees. But males also quietly groom one another.
Suddenly, perhaps from jealousy or a remembered wrong, one animal will run over and smack another. The victim may start screaming and fight back; or, an ally of the victim might come to his or her rescue and slap the perpetrator. If the aggression is allowed to escalate, mortal wounds could be inflicted. So the alpha male, or other chimps, quickly intervene on the side of peace. Then, as suddenly as the fight started, the combatants seem to forget what the fight was about, sit together, and begin grooming one another.
Sometimes an upstart young male will challenge the alpha male by bullying another chimp in a way that the alpha male and other members of the troop will observe. If the alpha male does not intervene to protect the weaker chimp, he will risk losing his status. The upstart knows that. So the challenger might go about the colony randomly bullying weaker chimps as a way of communicating to the group that the alpha male is a failure as a protector. By implication, the upstart conveys the message that he should be the new alpha male because the current one is afraid to confront him. (CP 88, 91, 93, 118 passim)
Generally, the alpha will charge the bullying upstart, screaming and waving his arms. This is usually enough to scare off the challenger, and to keep the alpha in good stead with the colony. Both alpha and upstart know that the other chimps are watching what they do. If the upstart is clearly dissuaded from further challenges, the colony will continue their relaxed way of life. But if the upstart is clearly determined to pester the alpha until he gives up his position, or engages in a decisive fight for it, the colony will become visibly more nervous than usual.
De Waal leaves no doubt that his chimps are strategic actors. Over one period of time he observed the second and third ranking males, Luit and Nikkie, form an alliance bent on deposing the alpha, Yeroen. They gradually wore him down over eight weeks of harassing him and the females. Then he surrendered. He demonstrated that by greeting his main challenger, Luit, as Luit's subordinate. (CP 93, 100, 110) The former alpha became the third ranked male, and the former third ranked, Nikkie, moved up to the second rank. Then the colony resumed its relaxed way of life.
Soon the new second ranked male began feeling his oats. So, Nikkie and Yeroen formed an alliance against Luit. After several weeks of conflict, the two allies attacked Luit in his sleep and killed him. They chewed open his scrotum and pulled out his testicles. (CP 211) Now Nikkie held the top spot. A few years later, a new upstart, Dandy, formed an alliance with the aging Yeroen. One day the two allies charged at Nikkie. Perhaps remembering what he and Yeroen had done to Luit, Nikkie panicked and, with terrified screams, ran full speed into the moat, where he drowned. (CP 214) "Dandy became the new alpha," notes De Waal. (CP 214)
By observing greetings, an outsider can know which male is currently in the alpha position. Subordinate chimps will go out of their way to give the alpha male a kiss, or submissively stick their finger in his mouth, females will present their bottom for him to sniff and inspect. The greeting ritual is a reliable measure of status, as higher ranking individuals receive more greetings than do the lower ranking ones. (CP 77-81, 148)
Having sketched out the Shakespearian life of an alpha male in the Arnhem colony, we now have enough information to determine whether the behavior of these chimps rises to the level of being political, and whether their interactions constitute a political system.
A political system is an emergent property of individual interactions within a social environment. That is, as individual actors in a society interact they create patterns of behavior that can constitute a political system. The existence of a political system is determined, in the first instance, by the observer, who may be a primatologist, political scientist, or other social scientist. Certain conceptual standards must be satisfied to make the determination as to whether or not the behavior on the ground rises to the level of a political system. These include the definitions of the terms "politics," "political behavior," and "political system." Using Easton's definition, a political system is the process for the authoritative allocation of values in a society. The question to be addressed, then, is as to how well, if at all, the behavior of the animals fulfil Easton's concept of a political system.
The Authoritative Allocation of Values
A chimp in the alpha position acts with some authority. But he generally is not a dictator who rules solely on the bases of brute strength. De Waal notes that the alpha position in this chimp colony is not determined "by the law of the strongest." (CP 77, 87) More than a final fight, the consent of the community is the deciding factor as to who will enjoy alpha status. A popular alpha male can lose a fight but retain his position. (CP 81) The alpha must build a coalition of males to back him, and he must also earn the support of the higher ranking females. The alpha male's dominance entails a network, or coalition, of supportive relationships. (CP 111) De Waal's descriptions show that the alpha needs the consent of the governed both to attain the top spot, and to stay in it. If the current alpha male senses that he has lost the allegiance of the colony, he might voluntarily relinquish his position. (CP 90, 103-104) He shows his decision by greeting the new alpha male as only subordinates do. Then everyone knows there has been a change at the top, and a new period of relaxed relationships begins.
The values he can allocate are severely limited. As noted above, he has no control over food, clothing, and shelter. His control over who has sex with his preferred females is largely illusory. There are two minor exceptions as to food. One is that chimps like to chew tree leaves. But to protect the trees, the keepers have put electrified fences around the tree trunks so that the animals cannot climb them. The trees they can climb are dead, because the chimps had stripped them of leafy branches and bark. However, the clever animals have learned to break off sturdy branches from the dead trees and place them against a live tree. Then they climb the branch like a ladder over the electrified fence. Once in the tree they tear off leafy branches and toss them to the ground. On such occasions the alpha male may decide to dominate the distribution, or allocation, of the goodies. These he will give to his necessary supporters first, and the left overs will go to lower ranked members of the colony. He keeps little for himself, preferring to use the plants as patronage. (CP 180, 197-198)
The second exception is meat. In the wild, chimpanzee males occasionally form hunting bands and catch monkeys. (CP 180, 198) Chimpanzees in the wild "are known to share meat after hunting." (CP 198f) The hunters divide the catch as a form of bonding. Chimps that did not take part in the hunt sometimes approach a male who has his share of the meat in hand and beg for a portion. The begging is rewarded as a way of reaffirming and strengthening bonds and alliances. If the begging is denied, that is also a social statement. (Cf. CP 180) Monkey meat is a treat for chimps, and not a staple food. They are not given meat in the zoo. (Cf. CP 10) So the Arnhem alpha's only opportunity to exercise control over the distribution of food happens on the rare occasion when leafy branches are thrown down from the trees which the chimps are not supposed to climb.
While, as we have seen, there is some semblance of the authoritative allocation of values in the Arnhem colony, the primary issue for political theory here is, do these patterns constitute a political system, or is it not a political system? The answer to this question is something about which reasonable minds can disagree. However, in my opinion the chimp behavior falls short of being political, and thus there is no political system among the animals. I will offer several reasons in support of this judgment.
Insubstantial Distribution Function
First, the lack of material values over which the alpha male has the power to distribute weighs heavily against the finding of a political system. With food, clothing, sex, and shelter out of his control, the alpha male does not decide "who gets what, when, and how" as to these values. His control over the odd batch of leaves and over access to his preferred mates is so sporadic and infrequent that it does not rise to the level of being part of a system. To be part of a system a pattern ought to have some regularity.
Since the distribution of those material values are out of his control, what distributive power, if any, does an alpha male have in the Arnhem colony? As we have seen, chimpanzees are intensely social creatures. Enjoying communal life is clearly among their highest values, if not the highest. They appear to also value peaceful relations, social harmony, and the stability of their social structure. As de Waal notes, a "stable hierarchy is a guarantee of peace and harmony in the group." (CP 111) Peace and stability of structure, at least in principle, seem to be values that can be authoritatively allocated by an alpha male.
Indeed, de Waal makes an observation that suggests a relationship between outputs and inputs, which are central elements of a political system. He writes that it "is conceivable that there is a connection between the protection offered by a dominant group member … and the support he receives in return when his position is threatened." (CP 118, 199f) In other words, protection is one of the demands, or inputs, made on the alpha chimp. His protection of the weak against the strong is one type of output. Then when he is threatened by another ambitious chimp, the support he receives can come from an alliance of weaker members. The primary question, then, as to the existence of a political system in the Arnhem colony is whether this cycle of demand for protection by the weaker chimps, actual protection given by the alpha male, and support for him against challengers constitutes a process of the authoritative allocation of values for the whole society.
The connection between the peace keeping interventions of the alpha male and "the support he receives in return when his position is threatened," is an irregular pattern. There are times when he does not keep the peace, by not intervening in a conflict. There are times when he is not supported by other chimps against a challenger. Nor is his power to keep the peace exclusive. Other ranking members also fulfil that function.
Thus, the actual causal connections are unclear, because the patterns are so irregular. Also, the failure to comply regularly with the terms of the social contract de Waal's observation implies are not explained by him. Again, to be part of a system a pattern ought to have some regularity.
The alpha's role in preserving the stability of the social structure is also problematic. As we will see, while some actions by the alpha male may tend to preserve the stability of the social structure temporarily, those acts are not undertaken for that purpose, but only have that effect incidentally. In other words, any social stability that comes from the behavior of the alpha male is an unintended consequence.
Lack of Cognitive Capacity
Easton's definition of politics as being concerned with policy making and implementation for a whole society sets up a cognitive requirement that chimpanzees appear to lack the capacity to fulfil. De Waal's own observations show that alpha males do not act with a general social policy in mind. As he writes, alpha males "are extremely aware of the political effect of what they do. Their [peace keeping] interventions are in accordance with a policy directed at increasing [their own] power." (CP 190, cf. 180) Old friends, whether male or female, will be abandoned if that will result in forming stronger alliances. The alpha "males do not allow personal preferences to influence their interventions." (CP 190) In other words, the alpha male only considers what strategy will help him stay in that position. Peace keeping is not a social policy, but a role requirement of the alpha position. The group expects him to keep the peace. Thus, the alpha will try to keep the peace, but primarily in ways that preserve his supporting coalition. It seems, then, that the alpha chimp is more Machiavellian Prince than Platonic Philosopher King.
De Waal's alpha males appear capable only of acting in their own ambitious self-interest. At one third the size of the human brain, the chimp brain may lack the grey matter needed to entertain so abstract and general an intention as action based on social policy. Without the mental capacity to contemplate a general social policy, chimp behavior falls short of being "political" behavior, in the sense of political science; that is, in Easton's words, behavior concerned specifically with "how social policy is formed and executed."
De Waal suggests another definition of politics as "social manipulation to secure and maintain influential positions." (CP 208) But this usage is subject to the same criticism that Easton made of Lasswell's definition. It is so broad that it can cover an academic department, a business, or any other social organization. Only Easton's definition shows what makes political behavior unique. That is, political behavior reflects a general concern for public policy. Easton's political actor is aware of threats to the political system of which he understands himself to be a part; but, de Waal's alpha male appears to be cognizant only of threats to his own position.
What's All the Fuss About?
If the alpha male lacks political power, why does he scheme and struggle for his position? What does he gain for his efforts?
De Waal recognizes that to some degree, individual behavior among chimps results from a combination of genetic program and opportunities in the actor's environment. (CP 195f) Intensity of desire for the alpha position and the practical intelligence required for success can vary among individuals. By chance some individuals may have more favorable opportunities than others. Given these variables, the males in competition for the alpha position are free agents engaged by choice in the pursuit of a desired end. If de Waal is mistaken, from the political science point of view, in calling that desired end political power, then what is it they are after?
It seems that the primary reward for all the scheming and struggle required to gain the alpha position is mere ceremonial obeisance. (CP 77-78, 148) A popular alpha male can receive nearly 100% of the particular form of subservient greeting in the group, and he is the one "male who is 'greeted' by all other adult males." (CP 148, cf. 82) "Like a king he [accepts] this mass homage as his due." (CP 77) Especially coming from other adult males, such greetings are a "show of respect," and "have a reassuring effect … for the dominant male that his position is safe." (CP 111) Male chimps seem to have a "sense of honor," (CP 107), and also a feeling of insecurity about their social status. Greetings have so much salience among the Arnhem chimps that the entire colony becomes nervous when one adult male ceases to greet the alpha, because they all know that is the sign of an impending challenge for the top spot. (CP 82)
Greetings are the primary measure of alpha status in de Waal's chimp community. The number of greetings given an alpha male are also a measure of his approval rating in the group. According to the count, Yeroen was the most respected alpha male in de Waal's study. (CP 145-146) Greetings are also a measure of respect in the "female hierarchy." (CP 178-179) "Children are never 'greeted' by adult group members." (CP 81)
Conclusion: Status, not Power
The constant struggle for alpha status gains the alpha male little more than that – status. He really attains very little actual power. In fact, as I have shown, there are no "politics," nor political behavior, in the chimp community about which de Waal has written. There is fierce competition for status, especially among some of the stronger apes.
Thus, from the political science point of view, de Waal greatly overstates the political element in the behavior of the chimpanzees he studied. With no more than miniscule control, at best, over the distribution of such material values as food and sexual privileges, there is nothing of value left to him but his status. In the absence of power to allocate values, and considering the cognitive incapacity of the chimps to act upon a social policy, the competition for status seems too thin a string from which to hang the finding of a political system.
William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.
[email protected]
See some of the same Arnhem chimps on You Tube:
CHIMPS FAMILY 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r-TEKSnSXM/
CHIMPS FAMILY 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc__L9Vo4g0//
CHIMPS FAMILY 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I12WaQ_GEO0/
*Values are any of the goods and services people desire, such as roads, schools, police protection, the regulation of commerce, etc. The allocation is through government action, which is authoritative when people feel "that it must or ought to be obeyed," in the sense that it's the law. (PS 133)
