About the comparison of the state authority and social organization by Incas and Aztecs

During the period under consideration (1438–1532) the Inca state inPeru was politically a highly centralized empire with strong central government. Its social structure was that of an early class society with some communal traits; the government’s intervention in social life was prevalent, village communities were put in the service of the government, horizontal mobility was regulated and vertical mobility was all but non-existent. It represented a socalledearly totalitarian state. The Aztec state in Mexico, during the period under consideration (1427–1519), was a confederation with weak central authority where the core of the confederation used conquered territories as a sort of economic backup. Their social organization represented an early class society with strong communal traits, little interference from the government in the daily life of the community, few opportunities for horizontal mobility, but vertical mobility was quite possible. As such it was a state that had retained many features of a military democracy.