The paper attempts to present a way of looking at social status, which makes it possible to view the differences between totalitarian and democratic social organization in terms of scientifically defined and verifiable concepts. In order to translate the concept of social status into usable terms for the analysis, the term priority is introduced. It is felt that the conception allows the importation of well-known sociological and anthropological theory into the area of political behavior in a way, which makes possible an operational distinction between political forms. Status can be defined as a place or position in the scheme of social relations consisting of both implicit and explicit rights and duties; and expected personal bearing applying to the status occupant. By specifying rights and duties status norms also imply limitations upon claims in return for prescribed and limited obligations. Rights can be defined as the norm supported claims that one status occupant has, by virtue of his status, on the behavior of the other member of the status pair.
