David Easton and the Invisible Hand
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3558428 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J S Sorzano (Georgetown University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1975 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 91-106 |
| Publication date | 1975-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1957887 |
| OpenAlex | W2052511141 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 42 |
This article demonstrates that, despite David Easton's assertions to the contrary, economic conceptions play a crucial role in his version of systems theory. A comparison between Easton's model of the political system and the classical economic model of Adam Smith reveals that they share the notions of system, scarcity, allocation, competition, maximization, self-regulation, homeostatic equilibrium, goal-seeking, and feedback. This comparison of Smith and Easton not only illuminates the logical and unacknowledged historical foundations of Easton's framework, it also clarifies some common misconceptions concerning systems analysis (e.g., the idea that it is static or that it is tautological) and underscores a number of important limitations on the utility of Easton's model as a tool for political analysis (i.e., the model requires a given pattern of behavior, a particular cultural environment and a specifiable institutional complex for its operation
Competition (biology · Economics · Epistemology · Mathematical economics · Microeconomics · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Scarcity · Sociology · Utility maximization · Ecology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Economic Theory and Policy · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism
Varieties of political theory.
Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason
History of Economic Analysis
Symposium on sociological theory
Economic Theory in Retrospect
Politics as the Allocation of Values
The Open Society and Its Enemies
The Concept of Equilibrium in American Social Thought
Easton I ad Easton II
World Revolutionary Elites
Varieties of Political Theory
Mechanism, Organism, and Society
History of Economic Doctrines
Polity and Economy
Adam Smith and the Classical Concept of Profit
The theory of economic development – An inquiry into profits, capital, credit, interest, and the business cycle
Systems analysis without tears
Adam Smith and the Economic Man
Some Institutional Aspects of the Wealth of Nations
Notes on David Easton's model of the political system 1
The Concept of Equilibrium in American Social Thought
The Classical Theory of Economic Growth
Essays in the History of Economics
Situational Determinism in Economics
The Political System
Causation and Functionalism in Sociology
General Systems, the International System, and the Eastonian Analysis
Current Models of the Political System
Easton's Concept Of Effective Support
The Scientific Status of Political Science
General Theory in Political Science
Modernization by Design
Political Science and the Uses of Functional Analysis
Easton I and Easton II
Polity and Economy
General and Social Systems
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Analytical Models in the Study of Social Systems
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,1 |
| Citation span | 1978 - 2018 (41) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |