Publisher's Synopsis
This book explores how the analysis of structure fits into a general theory of politics. It applies a method informed by recent theories of structuralism to the largely untouched field of political science. It takes a holistic approach to systems analysis rather than predominant decompositional methods.;By using this neglected concept of structure, it successfully accounts for the great variety of regimes, something that typical decompositional research does not do.;To support his case, Easton engages the work of Nicos Poulantzas, a leading structural or Althusserian Marxist. He shows that Poulantzas' work supports the neo-statist movement - a movement which fails to account for various formal regimes. The author shows that it is the organization of political systems as whole entities which fundamentally shape the form regimes take.
