The evolutionary ecology of despotism Kyle Summers * Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Howell Science Complex, Greenville, NC 27858, USA Initial receipt 3 November 2003; final revision received 3 September 2004 Abstract In this paper, I investigate the relevance of recent work in reproductive skew theory to explanations of the evolution of social stratification in human societies. I briefly review human social evolution and corresponding increases in stratification, as well as recent developments in skew theory. I then attempt to integrate basic factors that have been a focus of interest by skew theorists to previous work on human social stratification from an evolutionary ecological perspective. I also discuss factors peculiar to human social systems that could profitably be incorporated into future models of reproductive skew. D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Despotism; Social stratification; Reproductive skew; Human social evolution 1. Introduction The word bdespotismQ refers to extreme bias in the control that some individuals exert over limited resources or other individuals. Biologists discussing despotism focus on reproductive skew, or the degree to which reproduction is monopolized within a society. In traditional human societies, these two aspects of despotism are highly correlated (Betzig, 1986): Individuals with despotic power use it to further their reproduction and that of their relatives. This paper will focus on despotism as an extreme in the spectrum of social stratification, with the assumption that it has been closely associated with reproductive skew during human history. 1090-5138/04/$ – see front matter D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.09.001 * Tel.: +1 252 328 6304; fax: +1 252 328 4178. E-mail address: summersk@mail.ecu.edu. Evolution and Human Behavior 26 (2005) 106 – 135