202 AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS
///. The Internal Political Structure
From the point of view of political integration a clear distinction between the external and internal aspects of the political structure is hardly admissible, as both aspects are closely interdependent. External pressure or other stimuli affecting the political unit from without form the strongest incentive for internal unity and, vice versa, the external action of the group depends very largely upon the nature and degree of its internal cohesion. For the purposes of an analysis of political functions, however, a distinction between the external and internal governmental functions of the tribal unit must be made, as both have different situations to meet. The internal maintenance of the tribal society involves three major political or governmental functions: (i) the enactment of laws, (2) the maintenance of law and custom, involving both their perpetuation in periods where they are inoperative and their transmission to succeeding generations; and (3) the restoration of breaches of the law.
(i) Enactment of Laws. The general body of tribal norms is, in native opinion, as old as the tribe itself. There exists no historical or legendary account of a law-giver. Law and custom are believed to have been handed down from unknown times from ancestor to ancestor, and it appears to be the cumulative weight of ancestral authority which serves as the most general sanction for the observance of traditional norms.1 Normally, the suggestion of questioning the validity of tribal norms is rejected both by motives of fear and of suspicion. Fear is felt that deviation from established norms will evoke punishment by the ancestral spirits. Such punishment is not thought to be limited to the action of the immediate ancestors from whom one normally has to fear unfriendly acts, but to consist in a general, although vaguely defined, displeasure of the spirit-world which might have disastrous consequences of any kind. The suspicion of practising witchcraft is felt towards any person who deliberately and persistently defies established norms. If such a person cannot be brought back to reason by the
1 Remarks such as: "This is the rule since long ago wnich all our grandfathers followed', *It has been ordered (okulaga) by our grandfathers (avadadaf, or 'Our forefathers never did like that* are frequently made by the elders when discussing a case in the present-day tribal courts.