ABSTRACT
The actual framework for the political struggle was supplied, in most of the societies studied, by the policies of the rulers. Nevertheless, these policies usually constituted the most active and dynamic elements in the political process. They shaped the environment and setting to which other groups had to adjust and/or react-even though these groups were only rarely passive in the political struggle. All the aims and policies discussed illustrate the general tendency, common to the rulers of the historical bureaucratic polities, to develop a relatively high level of generalization of power. The actual policies of the ruling elites, and their viscissitudes, can be understood only in relation to all these conditions. The degrees of social differentiation and free-floating resources varied from society to society. In these societies, the importance of monetary means and policies transcended that due the mere accumulation of financial assets by the rulers.
