An Approach To The Analysis Of Political Systems

"A framework for political analysis by David Easton develops a method for analyzing the basic processes by which political systems, regardless of generic or specific types, seek to adapt and prevail as systems of behavior in a world of either stability or change. It establishes an organized system of concepts which not only forms an introduction to a behavioral theory of politics, but offers a framework for what can be termed a systems analysis of political life. It represents the first comprehensive statement of a formal framework interpreting politics as a system of social behavior, and as such, offers much valuable material for empirical investigators and theoreticians in the social and political fields. Beginning with an identification of the assumptions from which politics are defined as a system of behavior, this work then proceeds to develop a structure of concepts. Focusing largely on the dynamic aspects of systems, the author examines the kinds of processes characteristic of political systems. He organizes a consistent structure of concepts to fit the kind of system that political life constitutes. This work offers a clear pathway to a general theory of political life, a manner of analysis for understanding the behavior of all kinds of political systems: small or large, developing or traditional, modern or primitive, industrial or agrarian, democratic or totalitarian. It provides a set of categories for research and analysis that can be effectively used by anyone concerned with the study of politics, regardless of specific field - whether public administration, political science, sociology, or anthropology - and as such, forms a contribution of inestimable value to the study of political life" -- Dust jacket.

By applying a method formed by recent theories of structuralism to the field of political science, the author shows that it is the organization of political systems as whole entities which fundamentally shape the form regimes take.

Published in 1998, The Analysis of Political Systems is a valuable contribution to the field of Sociology & Social Policy.