Final answer:
The subsistence base commonly found among societies with a state level of political integration is agriculture. Agriculture supports the economic needs of the state and its social hierarchy, enabling the development of more complex political structures and mechanisms of social control.
Step-by-step explanation:
Subsistence Base in State Societies
The subsistence base that is almost always found among societies with a state level of political integration is agriculture. State societies, characterized by social stratification and centralized rule, emerged from the increasing centralization of political power in large chiefdoms. This evolution happened as a result of integrative and conflict pressures, such as population growth, social stratification, and external threats. Anthropologist Elman Service highlighted that chiefdoms developed based on agricultural surplus and that states, with their complicated political and economic structures, require multiple modes of subsistence, including intensive agriculture, trade, and military conquest.
Moreover, state societies cultivate a sense of nationhood tying citizens to a common culture and destiny, often shaped through religious or economic ideologies. The political economy of state societies underscores the interdependence of economic systems and political structures. As these societies grew, they developed modes of governance combining economic extraction, like taxation and tribute, with social control mechanisms, such as law and policing, supported by extensive bureaucracies and military forces to expand control over territories.
Thus, the agricultural base is intrinsic to state-level societies, supporting not only the economic needs but also the legitimacy and continuity of the state through the integration of multiple ethnic groups and the establishment of a social hierarchy.