30
A Theoretical Study-Comparative Government and Politics (Paper-A)
iniuence the working of the political institutions and provide dynamicness to the subject. In short,
ney laid emphasis on the empirical method of study. Out new methods of comparing
of the various
politcal systems, in the following pages we will discUss the two methods viz; David Easton's Input
Output Model and Gabriel AAlmond's Structural-Functional Approach.
[Link]-OUT-PUT MODEL
Or
SYSTEM APPROACH
J FamousAmerican writer David Easton is the main supporter of Input -Output Modelwhich is
also knownasSystem Approach, and about he expressed his views in his two important books viz.
it
The Political System and A System Analysis of Political Life. According to David Easton,every
political system converts inputs into outputs or in other words, political system is a ma machine to
people feed inputs in the form of demands to political system which according to its ability and
capacity converts these into outputs in the form of policies and decisions and this is a continuous
process.
David Easton's input-Output Model is also known as 'System Approach'which was also used
for the study of the subjects like Biology, Anthropology, Sociologyand [Link] credit for
using it for the study of Political Science goes to David Easton andGabriel A. AlmondÔavid
Easton developed Input-Output Model on the concept ofpoliticalsystem. He is the first
basis of the
political scientist who developed a systematic framework, on the basis of system analysis, for the
study of all the political activities)According to [Link],"Hisapproach in using system analysis
is constructive in the sense that he depends more on the analytical system approach rather
than on the membership system approach." David Easton's concept of political life is like a system
which works inan environment and is related to the effects which eftect it in return. We can say that
every political system has its separate nature and sphere of action, yet it gets effected by other
systems and also effects these.
What is Political System?
The concept of Political System for the first time was used by David Easton in his book The
Political System' published in 1953. The term Political System is combination of two words viz.
'Political' and 'System!
Meaning of Political-The word Political is symbol of 'Power'and Authority:! According to
Aristotle, association is most sovereign and
"Political inclusive." According to Robert [Link]"
Ever since Aristotle's timethe notion has been widely shared that a political relationship in
some way involveauthority,rule or power." According to Max Webber, "An association can only
be called political, if and in so far as theenforcementof its orders is carried out continuously
within a given territozial area by the application and threat of physical forceon the part of'.
admjnistrative staff:( Soafter reading these views we come to the conclusion that Political' is
congerned with 'power'rule' and'authority'and an organisation which possesses these attributes can
clajfn to be political)
Meaning of System--According to Almond andPowell,"A system implies interdependence
of parts and boundary of some kind between it and its environment!
Insimple words we can say that a system s a complete entity comprising of differènt parts
wbich are interdependentand work within a definite boundary. The main characteristics of system are:
Modern Methods of Comparing Political System
31
(i) Unity: (ü)
Wholeness; (iii) Organisation; (IV) VariOus Parts; (v) Mutual
Dependence:
(vi) Boundaries; (vi) Comprehensiveness; and (vii) Existence of Sub-System.
Meaning of Political System
After knowing the meaning of the word 'Political and'System' we come to the conclusion that
any organisation which has legitimate coercive power can claim to be Political System.
According to David Easton, "Political System is a set of interactionsabstracted from the
totality of socialbehaviour through which authoritativevalues are allocatedfor a society'
According to David Easton, all the political systems are sum total of interactions, it work within
the social system and have legitimate coercivepower. He also believes that the political systems are
open and adaptive and continuously these get effected by other systems and adapt themselve
[Link] Easton, therefore, lays stress on the adaptivecharacterofpolitical [Link]
expressing his views about the adaptivecharacterof political system, [Link]ña has said, "Exposed
as such,the political system must have the capacity to respond to disturbances and thereby to
adopt itself to the conditions under which has to function....In the political system internal
it
organisation...There is an extraordinary capacity to adjust itself to the conditions under
which it functions."
1 According to Robert A. Dahl, "A political system is any persistent pattern
relationshipthat involvesto a significantextent power rule or authority."
of human
According to Almond and Powell, "When we speak of Political System we include all
interactionswhich effect theuse of or threatof legitimatecoercion."
Conclusion-On the basis of the definition given above we can safely say that a political
system is a set of structures and their interactions, and has an ultimate control over the legitimate
physical coercion and whose decisions are binding onall. is the quality of legitimate coercive It
authority which distinguishes political system from other systems.
MAIN STRUCTURES OF POLITICAL SYSTEM
According to David Easton, every political system has three main structures and the support of
these provides stability to political system and these structures are
1. Political Community,
[Link] and
[Link].
A brief description of these is given below
1. Political Community-By political community we mean a group of people who be their
common pursuits and efforts try to resolve theirproblemsand conflicting viewpoints. Political comunity
is the main component of political system and whenever the support of political community to
political system decreases, it creates crisis for political system, More the support of political
community topolitical system, better it will be.
2. Regime Regime is known as constitutional [Link] is indicator of the fact that there is
also
a definite and established method the prdblemsthrough which the conflicts and controvercies
to resolve
are resolved or settled. In regime we includeconstitution, law and traditions etc. and because of these
the people'sfaith in the political system is maintained.
32
A Theoretical Study--Comparative Government and Politics (Paper-A)
Political Community
Regime
Authorities
3. Authorities-Authoritiesare the group of the people who have legitimate authority to run the
administration. It is this class which enforces the decisions or policies made by the regime for the
futfilment ofthe demands of political community. Sometime the fulfilment ofone demand gives birth
to new demands arnd in such a situation the authorities have to be answerable to the political community
and to satisty the [Link] a political system this process continues continuously.
ENVIRONMENT OF POLITICAL SYSTEM
David Easton is of the opinion that political system is an open system and it gets influenced by
the environment in which it operates. The system which is not able to adjust according to the
environment,faces many types of tensions. David Easton, therefore, is of the view that every political
system must have the capacity to adjust accordingto the changing environment and circumstances.
The political system which does not make use of this capability has to face crisis.
According to David Easton, the environment in which the political system operates or functions
or which influences it, can be divided into-two categories such as:
1. Intra Societal Environment--n every social system there are many systems which may
not be political by nature, yet they certainly influence political system. So the caste groups, religious
groups, interest groups,economic groups etc. constitute the part of intra-societal environment which
influencethe political system.
2. Extra Societal Environment--International organisations, international law and the
constitutional systems of other countries constitute the extra-societal environment and also exercise
influence on the political system. Since the world has become so small, no political system can
remain immune from the influence of extra-societal environment.
ANALYSIS OF DAVID EASTON'S INPUT-OUTPUTMODEL
David Easton has presented his 'System Approach' in theform of Input-OutputModel. According
to him,every political system converts inputs into outputs and the detailed explanationof it is given
below
Meaning of Inputs-According to David Easton as a sugar mill needs rawmaterial in the form
of sugarcane, electricity, oil, water etc. to produce sugar,similarly political system also needs inputs
in the form of raw material. David Easton divides Inputs into two categories such as:
(a) Inputs in the form of Demands and
(b)Inputs in the form of Support.
(atlnputs in theform of Demands-Every individual expects the fulfilment of certain demands
frorh thepolitical system which take the form of input [Link] demands may be of four types
viz ;
Modern Methodsof Comparing Political SysterneoaoT A
33
1. Demand for the allocation of goods and Services- Every individual expects that the
political system should ensure reasonable wages, fixed hours of work, educational opportunities.
recreational facilities, good means of transport and communication, medical facilities etc. To these
David Easton calls demand for the allocation of goods and [Link] 2enites
2. Demand forthe regulation of Behaviour-Every individual expects that the political system
should make rules andtoprovide security to regulate marketforces, rules related to marriage
regulation
and divorce, health and sanitation etc. so that the people are able to lead a regulated anddisciplined
life. In the absence of these rules and regulations, the law of jungle will prevail and the weak shall not
feel secure.
lc
3. Demand for the participation System--The people demand that they should be
in Political
allowed participation in political system and for this purpose they should be given the right to vote,
right to get elected, right to hold public otfice, right to criticise the government, right to petition, right to
form political organisation etc.
4. Demand for Communication and Information--The people want that they should get
information from the elite class about the making of policies and programmes information about the
display of power during emergency or on formal occasions,or information about the fixing of ideology
etc. To this, David Easton lables as demand for
communication and information.
(b)Inputs in theform of Support-According to David Easton, for the proper
functioning of
the political system, only inputs in the form of demands are not sufficient, rather we need to provide
inputs in the form of support to the political [Link] enables the political system to face the
demands properly.
According to David Easton, inputs in the form of support can be of four categoriessuch as
Wer .Material SupportPayment to taxes, to work for public duty, to serve in the armed forces
etc. come in the category of material support.
[Link] Support-To regulate public life, laws are made by the political system and the
obedience of these laws come in the category of
obedience support.
3. ParticipatorySupport-In the category of participatory
support, David Easton includes
exercise of franchise, taking part in political debates and discussions and
other political activities.
4. Attention and Respect Support-This category of supportincludesgiving attention to public
information and respect for public authority, symbols, ceremonies etc.
David Easton further writes that the system and the elite operating in it will have to seek
political
support trom other systems as well as from the people for effective implementation of the demands.
Conversion Process-Every system
supplied raw material in the form of input
political is
demands and input support which
converted by every political system in outputs in the roml
is
decisionsor policies and this total process
is known as conversion
process.
t may not be possible to convert every input into output. It depends upon the eticiency a
capability of political system to convert inputs into outputs, This is the reason that all the
demaid
presented by the people to the political
system do not get accepted.
Meaming Outputs-The decisionsor Dolicies which are made by keeping in view input
oemands and inputs supports are called outputs by David Easton. These outputs for policies and
decisionscan be favourableor untavourable in respect of demands and much depends upon the
nature of the political system.
34
A Theoretical Study--Comparative Government and Politics (Paper-A)
Outputs may be of following typesn
ao
[Link]--We have read that the outputs may be or may not be according to our demands.
bessentlal that every demand which we put before thepolitical system is [Link] political
Systemsometimes takes decisionswhich are absolutely against the wishes ofthe people. But since
he political system has coercive power, the people are made to obey the decisions made byit.
ACCOrding to David Easton, these outputscan be in the form of tribute, taxes, fines and personal
services etc.
o2.
regulation
Hegulation of Behaviour--According to David Easton, the second form of output is the
of [Link] and requlations are essential to regulate the life of the
people and tnis
1S not done theanarchy willprevail in thesociety. So, the political system makes rules and regulation
to regulate the behaviour of the
people,which are binding.
3. Allocation of Goods and ServicesEvery political system wants toprovide maximum
services to its people and wants to meet their needs of food, clothes and shelter etc. In these days,
that political system is considered better which provides wide
range of services and goods to the
people. David Easton puts this functions of political system into the category of
allocation of goods
and services.
4. Symbolic Outputs--The basis of every political system is a particular ideology and some
valdes which are displayed by the political system through the display of symbols or through
the
declaration of policies and intents etc. We read slogans written on the
walls that though there are
many religions in the countryyet India is one from Kashmir to Kanyakumari etc. The political system
demands the affirmation of these values from the people and David Easton names this functionof
political system into the category of symbolic output.
Feed Back Loop Mechanism-According to David Easton, there is a close relationship between
inputs and outputs. Whatever decisions are taken by the political system
in the form of outputs,
further take the shape of raw material and become inputs and this
process goeson continüously.
David Easton calls it 'Feed Back Loop Mechanism' and the illustration of which is given above in
Easton's Model of political system.
David Easton's Input-Output Model of Political Systemaesri io
(ENVIRONMENT)
DEMANDS DECISIONS
Conversion Process P
T
or S (SUPPORT) POLICIEs
FEED BACK
(UN3WNOHIN3)
pavid Easton is of the opinion that when so many demands are put forward the pressure on
system increases and a
political
situation of tension develops and the following methods
are used to
decrease the pressure
(i)Members
and supporters of the ruling party come forward and give active
support to the
government. (i) Means of communication like radio, television and
newspapers, [Link] used in such
a manner so as to cause disunity in the ranks of opposition which will decrease the
pressure on
Modern Methods of Comparing Political System
35
government. (ii)Some demands are accepted by government. (iv)Supporters of
political system are
encouraged. (v) Cultural and other organisationsare used forinfluencing
directly theideoloow ofthe
[Link] brief, inputs are to be converted into outputs in such a way that it leads
to more supDort of
people for political system.
CRITICISM OF DAVID EASTON'S INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL
There no doubt that David Easton's Input-OutputModel is an
is
importanttool to make analysis
and to do comparative study of various political systems, yet, it has the following
shortcomings
[Link] political factors have been lgnored-The system analysisused by David Easton
ignoresthe importance of so many political factors. In these days ideology
plays significant role in
determining the natureand working of the political system whereas David Easton has paid
no attention
to this fact.
2. Difficult to determine the boundaries of
System-According to David Easton, like other
systems political system also has its boundaries which are not territorial
rather these areof roles. But
it is very difficult to fix the boundaries of roles or functions.
[Link] mention of objectivesof Political System-David Easton does
explain the functions of
political system but says nothing about the objectives of political systerm. Without
fixed objectives the
political system is aimless.
[Link] havebeen lgnored-David Easton'ssystem analysis ignoresmany important
realities
facts such as-) in society
how the power shall be divided among different individuals and
different
classes,(ü) what shall be done to control the political upheavals and
revolutions, (ii) how the power
of the stateshall be regulated and controlled
for the protection of the liberty of an individual etc.
[Link] is no doubt that (Input-OutputModel) or
'SystemApproach'
is significant contributionof David Easton to the literature of political
science,but he has paid no
the practical difficulties which come in the way of the proper
attention to
analysis of different political
systems. For example, we do not have any valid tool to measure the effect of
intra-societal or extra
societal [Link], how to verify the reasonableness or unreasonableness of the
inputs
etc. Therefore,it is very difficult to give
practical shape to this view point.
IMPORTANCE OF DAVID EASTON'S INPUT-OUTPUT MODELt
Inspite of its shortcomings,we cannot ignorethe importance of David Easton's Input-Output
Model such as
[Link] Study-David Easton has accepted that the sub-systems found in Political
System widely effect the working of political system. Without their study we
cannot draw right
conclusions. Therefore, we can say that David Easton's Input-OutputModel is a comprehensive
study.
[Link] of Environment-David Easton has said that intra-societal and extra-societal
environment widely effects the working of political system. In other words we can say that no
political system works in isolation in David Easton has highlighted this [Link] the environment
and the problems difer from country to country, therefore, the working of political system also differ
trom country to country. The Indian political system has been vastly ifluenced by the poverty.
lteracy, unemployment, casteism,cmmunalism, Iinguisim and corruption etc. and David Easton
has highlighted this fact.
[Link] relationship between inputs and Outputs David Easton has also tried to highlight
the fact that there is close relationship between inputs and outputs as there is close relationsnlp
36
ATheoretical Study ComparativeGovernment and Politics (Paper-A)
Derween seed and plant. In case the seed is good, the plant will also be good but we cannot expect
good plant from a bad seed. Similarly theoutputsdepend on the quality of inputs. In case the people
provide go0d material support,the political system will be able to provide good servicesto them.
4. Added
new terminology to the study of Political Science-David Easton and othermodern
have widely added new terminology to the literature of Political Science. By including
politcal scientists
qute a tew new words, they have enriched the subject of Political Science and nowthesewords are
being used quite commonly such as inputs-outputs, feed back system, values, boundaries legitimacy,
authority etc.
[Link]--David Easton's Input-Output model to a great extent, is based on practices
realities. is a truth that formal and informal, political
It and apolitical factors etc. influence the working
System and David Easton has highilighed the significance of these and has also laid great
political
Stress on the study of these factors. is a fact that the decisions of political system are legitimate
It
and are backed by legitimate coercive powerand every body is bound to obey these.
6. Importance of Feed Back Loop System--Feed Back Loop System is an important
characteristic of every political system. In every political system the outputs again take the formof
inputsand this process continues continuously. The important thing is that this process takes place
both in democratic and dictatorial [Link] Easton has highlighted the importance of this fact
and has accepted close relationship between inputs and outputs.
Conclusion--In we can say that though the input-output model of David
brief Easton is not a
solution to all the problems, yet we cannot-ignoreits [Link] fact input-output model of David
Easton, which is also known as 'system approach' is an importanttool of political analysis. David
Easton has tried to explain that the isolated study of any factor. may not help to reach on correct
conclusion,so the study of the environment and its effects etc. is also essential.
STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
Structural-Functional Approach like other modern approach is also one part of behaviouralism.
Firstly this approach was used in Biology and in other mechanical sciences. In social sciences, for
the first time this approachwas àpplied in Anthropology and Talcott Parson and Marion Levy made
extensive use of this approach for social analysisn political sciencefor the studyof political institutions
and their functions. This approach was first used by Wiliam C. Mitchell and then by famous American
scientist GabrielAlmond.
political Itis because of this reason many writerscallit'Almond'sStructural
Functional Analysis.'
MEANING OF STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
Stráctural-Functional approach revolves mainlyaround twowords and these are'structures' and
their We have read
'functions: that the behaviouralists have laid stress not only on [Link]
institutional stucy of different make the studyof thetotal environment
institutions rather they also want to
in which these structures operate. They also emphasise
the study of allthoseformal andinformal on
factors which in any way influence the workingof the formal structures. They are of theopinionthat no
structure can workin isolation as these getinfluencedby the environmentin which they operate. We
arealsoaware of the fact-that no system can work without structures any in a politicalsystem which
structureperforms which functionand what are those factors which influence the working of these
structuresis known as Structùral-Functional Analysis. Ihrough Structural-Functional AnalysisAlmond
has tried toexplain which structures periorm which fünction and what is their style of performançe.