Individual actors in a social system also differ in the number of credit slips outstanding on which they can draw at any time. The most extreme examples are in hierarchically structured extended family settings, in which a patriarch (or "godfather") holds an extraordinarily large set of obligations that he can call in at any time to get what he wants done. … Near this extreme are villages in traditional settings that are highly stratified, with certain wealthy families who, because of their wealth, have built up extensive credits that they can call in at any time.

XREF: Connects to the concept of social capital and network theory — power as fungible obligations rather than direct authority. DEFINE: Introduces the 'credit slips' framework for understanding informal social power within hierarchies.

Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, loc. 92