ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a further step in the stratification theory. It is an attempt to show the relationship between stratification and the rest of the social order. Next, an attempt is made to explain the roughly uniform distribution of prestige as between the major types of positions in every society. Starting from the proposition that no society is "classless," or unstratified, an effort is made to explain, in functional terms, the universal necessity which calls forth stratification in any social system. The discussion has been offered as a possible approach to the more systematic classification of composite types. Granting the general function that inequality subserves, one can specify the two factors that determine the relative rank of different positions. In general those positions convey the best reward, and hence have the highest rank, which have the greatest importance for the society and require the greatest training or talent.
