A model of political organization that stresses ties of affection, kinship, and a sense of common purpose and tradition, as opposed to the meagre morality of contractual ties entered into between a loose conglomeration of individuals. The contrast was originally offered by the German sociologist F. Tönnies (1855–1936) in his Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (1887, Engl. trs. published as Community and Association, 1955, and Community and Society, 1957). See also common good.