Structure, Indeterminacy and Chaos
A Case for Sociological Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6297615 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert Huckfeldt (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1990 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 413-433 |
| Publication date | 1990-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Theoretical Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0951-6298 • E-ISSN: 1460-3667 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0951692890002004004 |
| OpenAlex | W1988539770 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 25 |
This paper re-examines the relationship between structural explanations and indeterminacy within the context of chaos and chaotic processes. The analysis demonstrates that the logic of a wholly determinate structure is not incompatible with a complex, apparently indeterminate outcome. This fact has important consequences for explanation in the social sciences, and for the evaluation of indeterminacy in social and political processes. In particular, it suggests that indeterminacy is not necessarily a repudiation of structural explanations for social and political life because a determinate structure is fully capable of generating complex and even seemingly stochastic behavior. Thus, the central task of the social sciences is correctly seen as an identification of the structure and logic underlying social processes, including the logic and structure of indeterminacy
Chaotic · Context (archaeology · Economics · Epistemology · Identification (biology · Indeterminacy (philosophy · Indeterminate · Mathematical economics · Outcome (game theory · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social structure · Sociology · Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis · Economic Theory and Institutions · Law · Mathematics · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence · Philosophy
Political Disagreement
Thank you Newton, welcome Prigogine
Budgets as Dynamic Systems
Empirically Discriminating between Chaotic and Stochastic Time Series
Why Do Societies Collapse
Spatial Correlation Test for Chaotic Dynamics in Political Science
Interdependence, Density Dependence, and Networks in Politics
Nonlinear models of electoral change
Dynamic Modeling
Theories of social change
Epistemics and Economics
Simple mathematical models with very complicated dynamics
Comment on Lenski's "History and Social Change"
On the Division of Labor in Society
Probabilism Reasserted
Decision, Order and Time in Human Affairs
A Nonlinear Dynamical Model of the Impact of SDI on the Arms Race
Chaos and transformation
American Voting Behavior
The Abuse of Probability in Political Analysis
The Social Context of Political Change
Some Dynamic Elements of Contests for the Presidency
On Education, opportunity, and social inequality
| Citations per year | 0.24 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1992 - 2009 (18) |
| Highly cited | No |