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was to have the CEQ oversee agencies' EISs, thusenabling it to act as guardian for environmentalvalues, much as the Council of Economic Advisersdoes for economic growth. This was never enactedinto law, but a comprehensive research role was. Ashe unhappily notes, this plan was not carried outdue to lack of funds, and the function was turnedover to EPA, where it has atrophied. This is a gapthat he still hopes to see filled in the future. He alsohopes that the process of planning will become trulyinterdisciplinary, rather than merely multidiscipli-nary, and that the world outside the federal bureau-cracy will come to reflect this approach as well. Heviews such developments as the Institute for Ecol-ogy as one hopeful sign that such spinoffs areoccurring.

Throughout his distinguished career, Caldwell hasespoused humanistic and ecological values. Yet hiscontinued belief that truly interdisciplinary experi-ences will cause natural scientists to share hisvalues appears to lead to the conclusion thattechno-scientific solutions will provide humanity'ssalvation. In accepting this conclusion, Caldwelldeemphasizes the fact that scientific data can besubverted as easily as any other human creation.

Although I share Caldwell's endorsement of theNEPA process, it seems to me that the other tool ofNEPA, the public disclosure of EIS contents, affordsmore hope. It is from outside the group of experts inthe public and private bureaucracies, i.e., from theunaffiliated gadflies, that informed and effective criti-cism of the most irresponsible projects, such as theMX missile, has often come. Even though the politi-cal process has recently elevated some who clearlyhave no concern for environmental values, ultimatelyour continued existence rests with the commonsense of the polity today, as it always has.

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and SexAmong ApesFrans de WaalNew York: Harper & Row, 1982

Precis

Chimpanzee Politics is a study of group life in theopen-air chimpanzee colony at Burgers' Zoo inArnhem, The Netherlands. The author defines poli-

tics as "social manipulation to secure and maintaininfluential positions" (p. 21.2). In keeping with thisdefinition, he concentrates on the struggles forpower and sexual privileges which took placeamong the more dominant members of the colonyduring the period of his observation.

The book begins with an introduction designed toacquaint the lay reader with the nature and circum-stances of the study, as well as with some of thebasic aspects of ethological research methodology.Chapter 1 contains a detailed introduction, completewith pictures, to the most important members of thecolony and outlines their relationships to each other.Chapter 2 chronicles two power struggles whichchanged the identity of the alpha male. Chapter 3closely analyzes the ties between the three mostdominant males. Chapter 4 describes the role sexualprivileges play in the group's life. Finally, the authorsums up with a discussion of some general princi-ples relating to chimpanzee group life and mentalcapacities. He also touches on some of the implica-tions of the chimpanzees' behavior for human politi-cal behavior.

-Carol Barner-Barry

Review of Chimpanzee Politics

Ivan D. Chase

Department of SociologyState University of New York at Stony BrookStony Brook, New York 11794

In Chimpanzee Politics, Frans de Waal sets out to doa number of things. His primary goal is to convincethe reader that chimpanzees lead highly complexand subtle social lives, and in fact, experience apolitics comparable to that in human groups. Inother words, de Waal wants to show that in "socialmanipulation to secure and maintain influential posi-tions" as in linguistic, artistic, and tool-using behav-ior, chimpanzees are closer to humans than we havepreviously thought. His subsidiary goals are to ex-plain various kinds of behavioral strategies prac-ticed by chimpanzees and to compare certain as-pects of chimpanzee and human behavior, includinginteractions between males and females and be-tween high-ranking and low-ranking individuals. Al-though I expect this book to be widely read byprimatologists and other scholars with behavioralinterests, de Waal indicates his concern with writinga book more accessible to the general public.Perhaps for this reason, as well as others, he haschosen to write in largely anecdotal form with rela-tively little reliance on statistical analysis of his rich

data base and with relatively little citation of therelevant literature. Given his anecdotal level of anal-ysis, he succeeds admirably in his primary goal ofconveying the subtle complexities of chimpanzeepolitical manipulations and in making the case that"the roots of politics are older than humanity." Hedoes not do nearly as well, however, with hissubsidiary goals of explaining why chimpanzees dothe things they do and especially comparing chim-panzee and human behavior.

De Waal approaches his primary goal by detailing,often with blow-by-blow descriptions, the ratherprotracted power struggles which resulted in twochanges of the troop's alpha male and the dynamicsof male access to sexually receptive females. Indescribing the power struggles and sexual access,de Waal brings out and makes, in my judgment, apersuasive case for three important principles ofpolitical relationships in chimpanzees. First, powerdepends not simply upon individual characteristicsbut upon the positions of individuals within a net-work of relationships-who their supporters andenemies are and what these individuals have to gainor lose by their support or lack of it. Second,individuals evidence a high degree of "triadic aware-ness;" the ability to perceive the character of rela-tionships between pairs of other individuals and actin ways which take this into account. Third, theactions of individuals apparently indicate that theycan rationally predict the outcomes of their behaviorin manipulating relationships and that they can actaccordingly even if their initial efforts do not meetwith success. None of these principles are theindependent invention of de Waal, but he uses themto order and make sense of chimpanzee behavior,indicating some patterns of social interaction thathave often been incompletely recognized by otherworkers. Some of the most important of thesepatterns are coalition formation; "reconciliation," inwhich one animal attempts to bring two others backtogether after a conflict; "telling tales," where oneanimal calls the attention of another to a pair'sbehavior, for example, when a subordinate malealerts the alpha male to sexual activity between afemale and another subordinate male; and separat-ing interventions, in which one individual behaves soas to prohibit physical closeness and thus allianceformation between two individuals. Separating inter-ventions may be directed, for example, by an alphamale toward a female supporter of the beta male.When all these patterns of behavior, plus others likereciprocity and bargaining among males for sexualaccess to females, are put together with strategicawareness, the picture of chimpanzee politics whichemerges is quite complicated, and indeed appearsto rival that in human small groups.

The message here is that it is a great oversimplifi-cation to describe chimpanzee social relationships

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in terms of the static, one-dimensional dominancerankings that have so often been used for these andother animals. What is needed instead is a kind ofanalysis that goes beyond the characteristics ofindividuals and sees the complex network of rela-tionships as arising from the dynamic interweavingof a rich variety of behavioral patterns and theawareness of how to use them. This kind of analysisis often referred to as "structural" (among its vari-ous meanings) in the human social sciences, and itsuse in analyzing chimpanzee interactions helps lightthe way towards a common framework of explana-tion in human and animal behavior.

Discoveries concerning primates, especially thoseof the sort revealed here, are of such great interestto us as students of behavior and as lay readers,that often the more rigorous standards of proof werequire in other areas of behavioral investigation areset aside. Thus, we may be more willing to beconvinced by largely anecdotal investigation in thestudy of our nearest relatives. However, de Waal'sfindings are of such importance that I hope either heor someone else from the study group will perform amore rigorous and systematic quantitative analysisof the data. This analysis would be of the greatestsignificance for primatology in particular and behav-ioral studies in general. In any event, de Waal'sconclusions, even at this point, should serve as achallenge and guide for the increasingly sophisti-cated and revealing investigations of primate behav-ior now being produced.

De Waal's discussion of evolutionary explanationsfor various aspects of chimpanzee behavior andcomparisons between humans and chimpanzeesare, unfortunately, not formulated with the samecare and attention to detail as his discussions ofbehavior itself. His discussion raises many interest-ing evolutionary questions and possibilities for hu-man comparison, but his treatment certainly doeslittle justice to the possibilities. Most of his evolution-ary explanations use a sort of superficial, watered-down sociobiology which detracts from his insightfulexplanations of the more immediate reasons forvarious behavioral strategies. His comparisons be-tween certain aspects of human and chimpanzeebehavior take a hackneyed and unsophisticatedform that would seem to indicate an inadequateknowledge of the relevant material. I include oneshort passage from a comparison of human-chim-panzee sharing as an example: "Similarly we knowfrom anthropological studies of primitive [sic] tribesthat the chief exercises an economic role compara-ble to the control role: he gives and receives. He isrich but does not exploit his people, because hegives huge feasts and helps the needy (p. 204)."Although the political organization of those societieswhich present the most apt possibilities for compari-son with chimpanzees, like hunter-gatherers and

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groups combining simple agriculture with huntingand gathering, vary greatly in political organization,it is quite a distortion to think a common formincludes a "chief" richly dispensing to "his people"who stand subordinately under him. In fact, mostoften these societies do not have anyone individualoccupying the role of "chief" but decisions aremade through a complex network of relationshipssomewhat similar to the sort he elsewhere describeschimpanzees as having.

In spite of these problems de Waal has written anexciting and provocative book which has broadened

.our horizons and deepened our knowledge of chim-panzee behavior.

Review of Chimpanzee Politics

Margaret W. Gruter

Academy of Independent ScholarsCampus Box 64970 AuroraBoulder, Colorado 80309

Chimpanzee Politics is a persuasive, well-docu-mented contribution to the steadily increasing litera-ture which proclaims that "other animals" possessmany abilities previously considered to be uniquelyhuman. De Waal suggests that we can learn aboutbasic human behavior traits by studying ape behav-ior. He points to interactions among the Arnhemchimpanzee colony to show that Aristotle's term,political animal in describing man has been sup-ported by observations of our close relatives, thechimpanzees, who. like other primates, share ourevolutionary heritage.

The detailed, well-written book, illustrated withexcellent photographs of the different situations andindividuals involved, conveys fascinating aspects ofsocial order in this caged colony and illustrates howthis order is maintained. De Waal focuses on themanipulative, i.e.. "political" abilities of the differentgroup members and finds similarities with humanarrangements. Among these attributes are the abil-ity and desire to settle disputes in dyadic form butalso through interference. which turns the conflictinto a triadic situation.

In Arnhem, as well as in Gombe where JaneGoodall has been studying chimpanzee behavior formore than 20 years, alpha animals perform a func-

tion in settling conflicts as well as in preventingthem. Dominance and the exercise of "power" togain advantage (something like "politics") as afunction of higher status within the group have beendocumented in both places. In many ways, Chim-panzee Politicsis a companion piece to Order with-out Law, Goodall's (1982) description of social orga-nization among the Gombe chimpanzees.

The behaviors Goodall discusses include the for-mation of coalitions. the expression of male/femaledifferences in forming coalitions, and other inter-individual relationships. Among the basic behaviortraits underlying various, more complex mecha-nisms. Goodall finds reciprocity, possessiveness.and above all a desire for balance, for something likeorderliness or peace in group interactions. Chimpan-zees seek friendly, physical contacts even afteraggressive encounters.

Both Goodall and de Waal describe numerousincidents where winners and losers, the strong andthe weak, the aggressor and the attacked, show aneed for reestablishing friendly relationships. Thisneed is demonstrated in grooming sessions whichmay follow violent confrontations (p. 132). Goodallemphasizes the reassurance gesture as the thirdpart of a sequence: aggression-submission-reassur-ance. The loser demonstrates the need for reassur-ance, often begging for this gesture by crying andcrouching in front of the winner. However, the effectof the reassurance gesture, i.e.. the end of fright-ened behavior in the defeated chimpanzee, is alsodesirable for the aggressor. To end an encounterwith reassurance brings pleasure to all concerned,and this type of pleasure caused by brain reward(Gruter, 1977; Danielli, 1980; Hoebel, 1982) might bethe motivating factor for many social interactions inall primate societies.

No 'doubt this type of motivation in human socie-ties has led to complex mechanisms and socialstructures, e.g., legal systems and other socialinstitutions. We often forget that reassurance isessentially a dominance gesture. Only a dominantindividual, respected and in command of the situa-tion-at least for the moment-can reassure thefrightened animal, whether he or she caused theemotional disturbance or not. De Waal's book vividlyillustrates this and other functions of dominancewhich we can see as an essential part of socialorganization.

To further justify the term political, de Waal de-scribes incidents where chimpanzees demonstratethe use of foresight and deception in order to reachhigher status in the group. Other scientists workingwith apes have also commented on this ability of ourclose relatives. Whether conscious or not, displaybehavior is often deception, and most maneuversthat chimpanzees use in striving for higher status