Hierarchical organization
Common social manifestations
Common social manifestations
----------------------------

Governmental organizations and most [companies](/wiki/Company "Company") feature similar hierarchical structures. Traditionally, the [monarch](/wiki/Monarch "Monarch") stood at the pinnacle of the [state](/wiki/State_%28polity%29 "State (polity)"). In many countries, [feudalism](/wiki/Feudalism "Feudalism") and [manorialism](/wiki/Manorialism "Manorialism") provided a formal [social structure](/wiki/Social_structure "Social structure") that established hierarchical links pervading every level of society, with the monarch at the top.

In modern post\-feudal states the nominal top of the hierarchy still remains a [head of state](/wiki/Head_of_state "Head of state") – sometimes a [president](/wiki/President_%28government_title%29 "President (government title)") or a [constitutional monarch](/wiki/Constitutional_monarch "Constitutional monarch"), although in many modern states the powers of the head of state are delegated among different bodies. Below or alongside this head there is commonly a [senate](/wiki/Senate "Senate"), [parliament](/wiki/Parliament "Parliament") or [congress](/wiki/Congress "Congress"); such bodies in turn often delegate the day\-to\-day running of the country to a [prime minister](/wiki/Prime_minister "Prime minister"), who may head a [cabinet](/wiki/Cabinet_%28government%29 "Cabinet (government)"). In many [democracies](/wiki/Democracies "Democracies"), constitutions theoretically regard ["the people"](/wiki/Citizens "Citizens") as the notional top of the hierarchy, above the head of state; in reality, the people's influence is often restricted to voting in elections or referendums.Mair, P. (2013\), Ruling the Void: The Hollowing of Western Democracy. New York: Verso Books.Mendelsohn, M., \& Cutler, F. (2000\), The effect of referendums on democratic citizens: Information, politicization, efficacy and tolerance. British Journal of Political Science, 30(4\):669\-698\. [https://doi.org/10\.1017/S0007123400220292](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123400220292)Franklin, M.N. (2001\), The dynamics of electoral participation. In: Leduc, L., Niemi, R.G., \& Norris, P. (eds.), Comparing Democracies II: New Challenges in the Study of Elections and Voting, pp. 148\-166\. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

In [business](/wiki/Business_sector "Business sector"), the [business owner](/wiki/Business_owner "Business owner") traditionally occupies the pinnacle of the [organization](/wiki/Organization "Organization"). Most modern large companies lack a single dominant [shareholder](/wiki/Shareholder "Shareholder") and for most purposes delegate the collective power of the business owners to a [board of directors](/wiki/Board_of_directors "Board of directors"), which in turn delegates the day\-to\-day running of the company to a [managing director](/wiki/Managing_director "Managing director") or [CEO](/wiki/CEO "CEO"). Again, although the shareholders of the company nominally rank at the top of the hierarchy, in reality many companies are run at least in part as personal fiefdoms by their [management](/wiki/Managers "Managers").Martin, R. (2011\), Fixing the Game: How Runaway Expectations Broke the Economy, and How to Get Back to Reality. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. [Corporate governance](/wiki/Corporate_governance "Corporate governance") rules attempt to mitigate this tendency.


How do large companies lack a single dominant shareholder?