Until the present day, one observes the system of chiefs established by the SPI in the region and always reinforced by public assistance agencies. The villages choose a chief to represent them who, in general, is the chief of the founding domestic group of the village. In the larger villages, the population indicates a vice-chief and a council formed by men in the age range of fifty years. It is these “leaders” who are presented as representatives of the “Palikur community" in the regional indigenous assemblies or in any event outside the circuit of the villages.

Nevertheless, more recently, with the founding of new villages by domestic group chiefs – a process that had been interrupted by the territorial centralization resulting from Protestant evangelization –, the number of chiefs has increased considerably, which has had the effect of pulverizing power. Today, one does not see only one leader as spokesman for the whole “Palikur community”, but rather, various chiefs representing their little villages.

Any decisions that affect the village are discussed in meetings that bring together the whole community in question, whether this is represented by a village or by a group of villages. These meetings generally last a long time, providing an opportunity to whoever wishes to speak (in general the elder men). Women and young men rarely speak out.

When there is an internal transgression of the norm of good sociability, typically characterized by fights between affines, thefts and fights resulting from marital infidelity, those involved are judged by a commission formed by the chief, vice-chief and councilmen. There is only one type of sentence: to clean spaces of common use, which varies in degree according to the gravity of the offense. The more serious the transgression, the larger the area that the accused will have to clean.

In case of death by murder, the killer is exiled from the community. The most famous case was the killing of a "pajé", in the 1950s, which was undertaken by fifteen men. It is worth noting that this death marked the disappearance of shamanism on the Urukauá. According to the Palikur, "the men that killed the ‘pajé’ were expelled, far away, to Brazil".

Along with the political leadership of the chief and the counsel, there is religious leadership, exercised by the pastor and his “obreiros” [workers], over their congregation. It is up to the pastor to maintain the good conduct of his followers, so that they don’t go “astray”, to gain new converts and reintegrate into the church those who by chance have left it. Different from the political leaders, the pastor cannot judge the members of his community. Judgment is individual and internal, between man and his God.