Final answer:
The assumption that tribal societies have weak political leadership and are solely based on horticulture or pastoralism is false. They can have various forms of leadership and social organization, including village democracies and councils. The term 'tribe' is also outdated and discouraged in contemporary anthropology.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that tribal societies are characterized by weak political leadership and an economy based on either horticulture or pastoralism is false. Anthropologists have used the term 'tribal societies' to refer to social structures that are more complex than this statement suggests. While it is true that tribal societies often practice pastoralism and horticulture, they can have sophisticated systems of leadership and socioeconomic organization. Tribal societies may be governed through extended family structures, councils of elders, or even democratic assemblies known as village democracies.
Chiefdoms, a different form of social organization, have regionally organized political leadership through a hierarchy of chiefs and are commonly associated with agricultural surplus, as opposed to the lesser intensive subsistence agricultural practices of tribal societies. It is also noteworthy that the term tribe is considered outdated by many modern anthropologists due to negative connotations and oversimplifications.