That such a system of tribal relationship existed in the past and exists today is beyond doubt. Even Sir Henry Maine, in a later treatise, admitted the importance of a good deal of McLennan’s evidence and he restated his theory in view of this evidence.
Polyandry persists even today in some parts of the world including India.
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But there is no adequate proof in support of the matriarchal system as the universal and necessary beginnng of society. Moreover, woman is the instrument of transmission. Nature has not made her to play an active part and being physically weak she must be dominated by the sex which is physically superior to her.
The Matriarchal Theory, therefore, cannot replace the Patriarchal Theory. The truth seems to be that history provides parallel examples of both the patriarchal and matriarchal systems and we can only conclude by agreeing with Stephen Leacock that “here the matriarchal relationship, and there a patriarchal regime, is found to have been the rule either of which may perhaps be displaced by the other.” Nonetheless, both the theories sufficiently establish that family is the original link in the evolution of the State.
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Patriarchal and Matriarchal Theories are in essence sociological rather than political theories, seeking really to explain the beginning of human society and the process of its development. Even the point from which their authors start may not be a starting point.
It is probable that centuries might have intervened between the actual beginning of mankind and the most archaic society about which we are told by the advocates of the Patriarchal and Matriarchal theories.
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Then, the nature of the family and the State are different; in their organization, functions and purpose. Willoughby says, “It would not be true to say that the State has developed out of this small unit (family). The two institutions are different in essence. In the family the location of authority is natural.
In the state it is one of choice. Subordination is the principle of the family; equality that of the state. Furthermore, the functions or aims of the state are essentially different from, and even contradictory to, those of the family.”
According to Willoughby, the Patriarchal and Matriarchal theories are “social rather than political hypotheses.” One may not agree with this point of view, yet it is not sufficient to say that the State is the enlargement of the family despite the fact that the germ of government may be found in the family discipline.