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Why are larger societies (states) more difficult to control? How is this managed?

User Rex Hardin
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Final answer:

Controlling larger societies is more complex due to their size, diversity, and stratification, managed through centralized governance, laws, taxation, and military.

Step-by-step explanation:

Larger societies, or state societies, are more difficult to control due to their size, complexity, and diversity. Managing a large, stratified, and multiethnic population requires a highly centralized leadership, extensive bureaucracies, systems of social control, and military forces exerting exclusive control over a defined territory. As populations grow, the demands on resources, the need for infrastructure, and the potential for conflict all increase, necessitating more sophisticated forms of governance for economic extraction and social control, such as taxation, law, and policing. State societies manage these pressures through various methods, including public revenue funded infrastructure development, extensive legal systems, and mechanisms to enforce social order and deter external threats.

User David Hodge
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