Academic literature on the topic 'Easton's systems analysis'

Summary Reviewing the book devoted by Sergio Fabbrini to the Italian transition, the author makes three major criticisms. The first is that the book does not provide a precise formulation of what a transition really is and, therefore, does not satisfactorily identify the beginning of the Italian transition. The second criticism is that there is no attempt to utilize some of the existing theories to explain the Italian case. The reviewer strongly suggests that Easton's systems analysis might be a useful starting point. In fact, in the Italian as well as in several other transitions, the three major components of the political system: the political community, the regime, and the authorities, are significantly affected. Fabbrini does not refer to Easton's systems analysis and makes little use of the theory of the veto players as articulated by Tsebelis. The third criticism refers to the very episodical comparison between the Italian transition and the French transition that led to the Fifth Republic. On the one hand, the reviewer points to the fact that the Fourth French Republic was the most similar case to the First Italian Republic and, on the other hand, strongly suggests, contrary to Fabbrini's conclusion, that the French semipresidential solution might satisfactorily work in Italy as well. In the end, this review article underlines the need for the cumulation of knowledge, for the reliance on existing theories, and for the comparison of whole political systems in order to obtain a better understanding of the transitions to democracy.

This article discusses some empirical findings from the use of models in civics teaching and primary social studies. The nature of the models used in research is compared to the usefulness of similar models in the planning of teaching processes. A set of empirical studies, conducted by student teachers using models in primary and secondary schools, are summarised. A more detailed description is given of David Easton's systems analysis model, which has been used as a structuring device for teaching in primary school during an in-service education course. The results are mostly encouraging with regards to the effects on all the groups investigated. The authors argue that models derived from research can be useful even in early primary education, if they are used with care, and serve mainly as a structuring tool for teachers. They also present two models for teachers planning, both based on the use of models and concepts from research as a point of departure for decision-making both before and during the teaching process.

In this article, the author examines the evolution and the current state of systems approach in political science. The paper justifies the need of rethinking systems approach. The principal part of this work is devoted to utilization of the systems approach in papers of T. Parsons, D. Easton and G. Almond. The author highlights some distinctions between the terms “systems approach” and “systems analysis”.

ABSTRACTWhether corporatism matters or not is one of the most difficult and intriguing questions confronting policy analysts. One approach to the problem not previously adopted is to use systems analysis as a means of teasing out the implications of general structural differences between corporatist and pluralist polities. By using a framework derived from the systems analysis of Easton but incorporating elements of political competition and accountability, it is shown that corporatist and pluralist states differ significantly in the ways in which they process information and generate support. The combination of centralisation and consensus proves to be the key to the apparently greater learning capacity of corporatist systems. The analysis suggests that policymaking may itself be better understood as a learning mechanism rather than as an allocative process.

According to David Easton, “Politics involves change; and the political world is a world of flux, tensions, and transitions” (Miftah, 2019: 1). Ethiopia’s history of political transition fits the conceptualization of politics as changes and the political world as a world of flux. Political transition in Ethiopia has been dominantly tragic. Atse Tewodros II’s political career ended in the tragedy of Meqdela (1868), Atse Yohannes IV’s reign culminated in the ‘Good Friday in Metema’ (1889), while Menelik’s political career ended peacefully, and that of his successor, Iyasu, ended in tragedy before his actual coronation (1916). The emperor was overthrown in a coup in 1974, and Mengistu’s regime came to an end when he fled the country for Zimbabwe (1991). (Miftah, 2019) Thus far, revolutions, peasant upheavals, and military coup d’états have been political instruments of regime change in Ethiopia. What is missing in the Ethiopian experience of transition so far is the changing of governments through elections. This article discusses the challenges and opportunities for a political transition in Ethiopia using comparative data analysis and various presentation methods.

A democratic political system can be sustainable and stable only if it has society’s support that is based on legitimacy. So far, the attention of Latvian researchers has mostly been devoted to the so-called “ratings” of separate political institutions and politicians, but no attempt has been undertaken to investigate the political system as a whole through the prism of legitimacy. The aim of the present article is to explore whether there is a sufficient resource of legitimacy of the Latvian political system in order to provide stability and efficiency of the regime. The empirical basis of the research mostly consists of the results of the sociological research conducted in Latvia during the past six years (2011–2016). The data analysis of the present research is based on David Easton and Pippa Norris’ conceptual approach to the study of legitimacy of political systems. One of the conclusions that can be made is that the political system of Latvia is characterised by insufficient diffuse support, which then indicates that the political system experiences the problem of legitimacy. As there is a divided society in Latvia, both communities lack a shared national identity, which could connect the society. In addition, it can be stated that around half of the society is not satisfied with the functioning of the political regime. The analysis performed in the article allows concluding that the trust in political institutions is extremely low and the assessment of the political authority performance is highly negative.

Formulation of the problem: The features of model of presidencialism in modern terms, possibility of application of presidencialism in democracy are analysed in the article. Analis of concept: politics, decision of political conflicts. The political factors of political strategies of presidencialism are considered, of institute of the president, as subject of conceptual power and democratic political system, as its object is investigated. It is shown, that the real model of political system contains oligarchic and antiolygarchic components, each of which can become prevailing. Purpose of the research: The purpose of the article is to carry out a theoretical and methodological analysis of the essence of the presidency as a subject of conceptual power in democratic political systems, to identify the structure of conceptual power, its role and place in the political system of society, to identify trends and to analyze the role of the processes of oligarchization in the functioning of democratic political systems, to uncover conceptual functions of the institution of presidency in western democratic political systems. The conceptual management of political system, preservation its of democratic definiteness, is a major task of presidential power. Using theoretical models D. Easton, E. Sedov, theory of needs A. Maslow and theory of social mobility of P. Sorokin has allowed to reveal static and dynamic parameters of political system, which optimization enables to support evolutionary character of political development.There are several alternative concepts of democracy. At the same time, one of them is legally codified and reigns. That is why political power is usually forced to act in an anti-democratic way on an alternative concept. Institutions of state power, thanks to sustainability, mobility and resource intensiveness, can support and even impose those norms and goals that are not entirely in the interests of society as integrity, or vice versa – the interests of individual, usually the most active individuals and social groups are not taken into account and even sacrificed in general. There is a significant imbalance of interests that threatens the existence of a democratic social system. Consequently, the task arises to develop objective indicators, which should be guided by the head of state, in order to assess the favorable or unfavorable tendencies in the political system.The purpose of the article and the task. Research methods: The following research methods were used to address the issues set in the article: general scientific methods – descriptive, hermeneutic-political, systemic, structural-functional, comparative, institutional-comparative; general logical methods – empirical, statistical, prognostic modeling and analysis; special methods of political science. The preference was given to the method of political-system analysis, by which the common and distinctive characteristics of the basic components of soft power strategies were identified, reflecting existing political, public, information and other challenges and global development. For empirical research, the factual basis was used, which was compiled by an expert survey of Ukrainian specialists-political scientists. Practical and systematic methods were used to analyze the system of relations from four perspectives: influence presidents power. Functional and general historiographical methods were also used. Methods of analysis and synthesis allowed exploring the features. In order to implement these methods, such methodological techniques as analogy, comparison, generalization and extrapolation were used. The method for analyzing the situation (studying documents, comparing, etc.) was used to study international and political processes in the USA, exploratory methods (in particular, content analysis) for the analysis of high-level documents and speeches, which in turn helped identify and outline the trends in foreign policy of the countries of the region. Conclusions. The experience of western (Western, liberal-democratic) political systems suggests that the function of supporting the democratic model of the political system is the responsibility of the president. In this case, the president plays the role of either the head of the executive (political manager of the higher rank), or the formal head of state, or these functions combine. In the context of the political crisis, the president takes steps to preserve the democratic system of society. The complex of these activities includes the function of supporting the democratic nature of the political system.

In situations of a transition to democracy, the legal profession tends to have a strong impact. While this is quite clear in the case when criminal prosecutions are initiated against perpetrators of gross human rights violations, and when amnesty provisions are enacted for some violations, it is far less obvious in cases when a truth commission is set up. The current article looks into the role that the legal profession, i.e. the judiciary, the bar and the non-governmental organisations, has played in the notorious case of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It draws on the systems analysis of political life by David Easton, which identifies how demands (input) that rise in society, are processed (conversion) and produce results (output), which provide new inputs to the political system. This ‘flow model’ is applied to two separate processes during the life of the TRC: the Special Legal Hearing of October 1997, and the legal challenges put to the Commission in Court in 1996. Our analysis reveals a number of interesting conclusions. One is that the organised profession approached the Special Legal Hearing from a very legalistic point of view, despite the non-judicial character of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at large. This stands in contrast with the position of the Constitutional Court, which recognised the limits of the traditional judicial system and came out in support of the TRC. Another conclusion is that, although the participation of the judges and the magistrates in the Special Legal Hearing was limited to written submissions, their influence proved very large, as they threatened the TRC with a constitutional crisis. Finally, throughout the two processes under review, breaches became visible within the legal profession, between the ‘progressive’ non-governmental organisations and the ‘conservative’ organised profession on the one hand, and between the organised profession on the one hand and the judges on the other hand. In sum, it can convincingly be concluded that the impact of the legal profession remains quite important when a truth commission is opted for in a context of transition to democracy.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold. It first examines cross-institutional benchmark data about “library as place” from 99 US schools in the Measuring Information Service Outcomes (MISO) Survey (www.misosurvey.org). The data demonstrate the value of “library as place” to students in particular. Second, the paper shares case studies of how two college libraries made MISO Survey “library as place” data actionable. Lafayette College (Easton, Pennsylvania) analyzed local MISO Survey data after a renovation to validate return on investment. Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana) analyzed MISO Survey data to help secure a science library renovation and to justify an architectural study for its main library. Design/methodology/approach The paper begins with an analysis of “library as place” using aggregate benchmarks derived from US college and university respondents between 2012 and 2015. Specifically, the paper contrasts student and faculty perceptions of “library as place” via national benchmarks about: library services importance, satisfaction, and use (three benchmarks); hybrid online/“place-based” library services importance, satisfaction, and use (three benchmarks). Pivoting from higher education to individual, local perspectives, two case studies reveal how academic libraries used MISO Survey findings to demonstrate the value of “library as place” for renovation purposes. Findings The findings include that undergraduates make more frequent use than faculty of place-based services such as reference, equipment loans, and physical course reserves. Undergraduates also find most of these services more important than faculty do. Faculty makes generally more frequent use than undergraduates of online services such as library databases and the catalog. They find that these services to be more important than undergraduates do. Faculty and undergraduates use newer library discovery systems with equal frequency and find them to be equally important. Undergraduates find comfortable library spaces to be very important, and faculty considers them to be only a bit less important. Originality/value This is the first paper using MISO Survey data to focus on the importance and satisfaction of place-based library services involving cross-institutional comparisons for students and faculty. Previously published research using MISO Survey data have compared the use of place-based library services. This is also the first paper to offer case studies about how institutions use MISO Survey data to demonstrate the value of “library as place.”

Abstract: This paper attempts to evaluate the performance of the political system of Jokowi government. According to the authors, Jokowi-JK government today has quite managed to prove the consistency of its performance and that is the implementation of the spirit of the cabinet work, but failed in the commitment of the cabinet formation of work such as not sharing power. This study found that manage the territory support of Jokowi more likely to choose the concept of win-win solution, to bring together the diverse interests of a demand towards the political system Perspective theory applied is the Political System Analysis of David Easton and Structural and Functional Analysis of Gabriel Almond; to explain the working of the political system of Jokowi governance.Keywords: Political Systems, Political Systems and Environment, Jokowi Government Abstrak: Tulisan ini mencoba mengevaluasi kinerja sistem politik pada pemerintahan Jokowi. Menurut penulis, pemerintahan Jokowi-JK saat ini telah cukup berhasil membuktikan konsistensi kinerja dan kerjanya yang merupakan implementasi dari semangat kabinet kerja, tetapi gagal dalam komitmen pembentukan kabinet kerjanya seperti tidak bagi-bagi kekuasaan.Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa dalam mengelola wilayah dukungan Jokowi lebih cenderung memilih konsep win-win solution, untuk mempertemukan beragam kepentingan dari suatu tuntutan terhadap sistem politik. Perspektif teori yang diterapkan adalah Analisis Sistem Politik dari David Easton dan Analisis Struktural Fungsional dari Gabriel Almond; untuk menjelaskan kerja sistem politik dari pemerintahan Jokowi.Kata Kunci: Sistem Politik, Sistem Politik dan Lingkungan, Pemerintahan JokowiAbstract:This paper attempts to evaluate the performance of the political system of Jokowi government. According to the authors, Jokowi-JK government today has quite managed to prove the consistency of its performance and that is the implementation of the spirit of the cabinet work, but failed in the commitment of the cabinet formation of work such as not sharing power. This study found that manage the territory support of Jokowi more likely to choose the concept of win-win solution, to bring together the diverse interests of a demand towards the political system Perspective theory applied is the Political System Analysis of David Easton and Structural and Functional Analysis of Gabriel Almond; to explain the working of the political system of Jokowi governance.Keywords: Political Systems, Political Systems and Environment, Jokowi Government Abstrak: Tulisan ini mencoba mengevaluasi kinerja sistem politik pada pemerintahan Jokowi. Menurut penulis, pemerintahan Jokowi-JK saat ini telah cukup berhasil membuktikan konsistensi kinerja dan kerjanya yang merupakan implementasi dari semangat kabinet kerja, tetapi gagal dalam komitmen pembentukan kabinet kerjanya seperti tidak bagi-bagi kekuasaan.Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa dalam mengelola wilayah dukungan Jokowi lebih cenderung memilih konsep win-win solution, untuk mempertemukan beragam kepentingan dari suatu tuntutan terhadap sistem politik. Perspektif teori yang diterapkan adalah Analisis Sistem Politik dari David Easton dan Analisis Struktural Fungsional dari Gabriel Almond; untuk menjelaskan kerja sistem politik dari pemerintahan Jokowi.Kata Kunci: Sistem Politik, Sistem Politik dan Lingkungan, Pemerintahan Jokowi

In the post-war period, Italy has been plagued by different forms of organised crime (such as the Sicilian Mafia, the Neapolitan Camorra, the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta and the Pugliese Sacra Corona Unita) which have managed in their individual ways to infiltrate both the State (in the form of political parties and local administrations) and society (businesses, cultural and voluntary organisations). In Campania, until 1991, the relationship between the Camorra and the local political elite (based on the exchange of votes for state contracts and protection) was tacitly accepted by the population and could not be studied by political scientists due to the lack of reliable source material. In 1991, a law was introduced which gave generous remission of sentences to criminals who became state-witness. Many members of the Camorra revealed important aspects of criminal, economic and political activities in Campania. This new material permitted a reexamination of the Camorra. This thesis on the Camorra hopes to fill a gap in the study of the relationship between politics and criminal organisations which so far has concentrated on the Sicilian Mafia. Part One is a general introduction and presents the theoretical model and methods adopted. The documentation available allowed us to adopt an agency-structure approach derived from Giddens's structuration theory (1984). This was complemented by Easton's systems analysis (1965) to understand the wider, macro-environment. We elaborated an 'interaction model' to analyse the changing nature of the Camorra's activities: from a simple social-criminal practice in the 1930s to a dynamic and secret cartel enacting a political-criminal practice in the 1980s. To test this model we applied it to case-studies of criminals using original judicial documents. In Part Two we look at the possible motives of people who join the Camorra. We analysed the agent's internal and external structure in both decades and concluded that the macro-environment as an influencing factor had changed more than the individual-agent. Part Three examines the lives of camorristi in the 1950s and 1980s in order to determine how far their criminal practice has been transformed. Part Four investigates the wider picture of system-interaction between the Camorra's social subsystem and the political system. Focussing on the relationship between camorristi and the political elite in the 1950s and 1980s we highlight the radical changes that occurred. This thesis presents a theoretical discussion of how to study organised crime and social behaviour in general and at the same time a detailed empirical study, in particular of the political role of a criminal organisation in a concrete historical situation, that of Naples over the last forty years.

碩士
淡江大學
歐洲研究所碩士班
96
The fields of totalitarian regime’s rising have been the subjects that many scholars interested in. Hannah Arendt called totalitarian politics was a newly risen phenomenon in the 20th century because of its specialty in human civilization. In this thesis, the author attempt to observe that from the perspective of David Easton’s political system, by the concept of “System Persisting” and “System Self-Transformation”, also by analyzing the interaction between environment change, policy output from political authority, and reaction of political members in Germany from 1924 to 1936, to explain the rising of totalitarian regime. The thesis mainly contains three stages of Germany between 1924 and 1936, including (1) The period of stability(1924-1929)：In this stage, the political system of Germany was remained stable under government of Weimar Republic. The people’s livelihood needs were fulfilled; also the support from the people could keep the regime operating well. (2) The period of transformation(1929-1933)：Due to the broke out of Great Depression, the political system of Germany went through a very difficult time during this period, which result in that the system was prompted to proceed a process of “Self-Transformation”. However, under the circumstance that Weimar Republic kept failing to deal with increasing pressure from environment, the people felt less and less supportive toward the government, also more and more unfulfilled with their livelihood needs. In order to survive under such a rugged time, the process of “Self-Transformation” was forced to become more violent, which eventually would bring about a new authority and regime—the totalitarian regime. (3) The period of restability(1933-1936)：Owing to the coercion policy output of newly risen totalitarian regime, the political system of Germany was restored to stable situation again, whether in politics or in economy. Also by achieving full employment in 1936, Germany officially ended the chaos which had been lasting since the breakout of Great Depression.