Toward a Political Science Discipline

Authority Patterns Revisited

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6246741
AutoresDavid D Laitin (0000-0002-7911-7089, University of Chicago, autor correspondente)
Ano1998
Volume31
Fascículo4
Páginas423-443
Data de publicação1998-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoComparative Political Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0010-4140 • E-ISSN: 1552-3829
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0010414098031004002
OpenAlexW2170774828
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas16

Harry Eckstein's 1973 classic article “Authority Patterns: A Structural Basis for Political Inquiry” is critically reviewed. In that article, Eckstein proposes that the scope of politics can be ascertained through a taxonomic exercise that he labels progressive differentiation. In so doing, he delimits political study to the systematic analysis of authority patterns, which he defines as the “set of asymmetric relations among hierarchically ordered members of a social unit that involves the direction of the unit.” This taxonomy is provocative in that it rules out of the discipline's domain standard fare within contemporary political science, concerning exchange among equals (virtually all of economic reasoning) and exchange between states (virtually all of international relations). An alternative delimitation is proposed, building on other insights from Eckstein's corpus but taking off from current research practice. Four subfields—political theory, comparative politics, democratic institutions, and international relations—are defined in such a way as to give coherence to the political science discipline

Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy · Economics · Epistemology · International relations · Political methodology · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Scope (computer science · Social science · Sociology · Systems theory in political science · Taxonomy (biology · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Political Science Research and Education