Two Political Systems Analysts – David Easton & Gabriel Almond

David Easton and Gabriel Almond:

Since 1945, many political scientists, at first mostly Americana, have adopted the systems approach to the study of politics. Among them. two are most prominent, namely David Easton, who “was, in fact, the first to do so, and Gabriel A. Almond, who further elaborated it We shall first discuss David Easton’s analysis of the political system, and afterwards that of Gabriel A. Almond’s.

David Easton and his Systems Analysis:

David Easton was the first American political scientist to apply systems analysis to politics in his book, The Political System, which he wrote in 1953. He continued to discuss the systems approach in his later books: A Framework for Political Analysis and A System Analysis of Political Life, both written in 1965. He claimed that his systemic theory embraced all the social systems as well as the whole political process. Since 1953, David Easton became one of the prominent exponents of the “general systems” approach to Political Science. He was one of the few who came from within this discipline rather than from other social sciences, such as sociology. In 1969, he became the president of die American Political Science Association. In his presidential address to the Association, he modified somewhat his behavioral approach to politics. He asserted that the political scientists should not .concentrate on facts cmly, but explain them on the basis of a theory which was usually neglected by them, i

Before we explain his political system, we may depict its basic components in a diagram as below:

Flow Chart of David Easton’s Political System (Polity or State)

Definition: Easton defines a political system as “that system of interactions in any society through which binding or authoritative allocations are made and implemented. Authoritative allocations relate to the values or objects or resources of human needs and desires. They can be roughly translated as laws or acts of policy.

Easton’s model of the political system (commonly called a polity or State) consists of two main parts: the environment and the political system as such. Hie political system consists of (i) the conversion process, shown as “the box” in the model (ii) the inputs, (iii) the outputs and (iv) the feedback. We may add here that, according to Easton, there are, besides the political system, two other political systems. One of them is below it, which he called para-political system, e.g. political panics, pressure groups, etc. and the other is above it, namely the international political system. But it is the national political system which is a political system par excellence because it alone makes and implements authoritative decisions allocating values or goods and resources to individuals, and groups, in the society.

Environment: According to Easton, political life is “a system of behaviour embedded in an environment to the influence of which the political system itself is exposed and in turn reacts”. The environment, within which the political system exists, comprises all the social, economic, cultural, religious, ideological and other conditions, without which a political system cannot’ exist In more concrete terms, it means the natural and human resources of the economy, ecological conditions, and all other material and non-material variables.

They also include the international resources, influences and conditions For instance, both Soviet Union and U.S.A. are international resources for Bharat, while for Pakistan. America is the only resource. Both the internal and external variables are not a pan of the political system. According to Easton, “In the environment we have such systems as the ecology, economy, culture, personality, social structure and demography”.

The limits or lines, which separate the environment from the political system, constitute its boundary. Within die boundary lies the political system, which is defined by the possibility of the exorcise of legitimate force of its binding decisions. But the boundary is constantly changing, because the conditions in the environment are also constantly changing and the political system has to cope with these changes or variables.

They constitute the external variables of the political system. They are the forces which shape and change the inputs some of them come from within the system itself. It may be further noted that Eastern’s model is based on behavioral approach to politics. As he himself said in a later article, “We have been interpreting political life as a system of behavior set in an environment and open to the influences stemming from that environment, as well as from internal sources.”

The Inputs: Political process begins with the inputs. They are, broadly speaking, of three kinds: demands, supports and apathy or opposition. The government receives the demands and the supports from the domestic and foreign interests, that is, from the environment around the political system. Demands provide the raw material or information, which the system must process and the energy which the system needs. They lead to political activity. They are the signs that the people or the groups want action. They arise either in the environment (external) or within the system itself (internal).

The external or environmental sources of the demands are the major portion of the demands, shaping the variables from outside the olitical system. They can be expressed in all manner of ways, such as public opinion, polis, political parties, pressure groups, letters written to the governmental system, and also by means of riots, public demonstrations, and protest marches, etc. But the demands may arise internally from within the governmental system itself. They arise from such aspects and influences as the representation system, the nature of the constitution itself and the norms and procedures of the governmental system; they also arise from the values of the political culture of a political system.

In short, they are the significant parts of die material on which the system operates. They are also the one important source of change in the political system. Roughly speaking, out of about one lakh needs, desires, expectations, plans and projects of the people, including social groups and political parties, about one thousand become their demands. Out of about one thousand demands about one hundred become challenges or issues which influence the government decision makers Out of one hundred issues about ten are actually converted into outputs, i.e., become laws and acts of policy.

In a democratic polity, out of the ten outputs, nine have originated from the people or political parties and groups, while one has come from the government itself. But in an undemocratic polity, such as a dictatorship or an autocracy, the ratio is reversed: one effective demand comes from the people, while the nine come from the government Demands are of several kinds. They depend on the type of the political system. Some of them are as follows-

Economic demands include the desire for higher living standards, better employment opportunities or welfare or social security benefits. Regulatory demands means the demands few specific legislation, laws for maintaining peace and order, improving Community relations, protecting human rights, etc. In Islamic countries like Iran, Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia, religious demands may be more important than economic or cultural demands.