Abstract
I N an earlier work I have argued for the need to develop general, empirically oriented theory as the most economical way in the long run to understand political life. Here I propose to indicate a point of view that, at the least, might serve as a springboard for discussion of alternative approaches and, at most, as a small step in the direction of a general political theory. I wish to stress that what I have to say is a mere orientation to the problem of theory; outside of economics and perhaps psychology, it would be presumptuous to call very much in social science “theory,” in the strict sense of the term.
Keywords
PoliticsPoint (geometry)Positive economicsEpistemologyWishWork (physics)Political philosophyTerm (time)General theoryBiology and political orientationSociologyPolitical scienceEconomicsPhilosophyLawMathematics
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1957
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 383-400
- Citations
- 713
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
David Easton
(1957).
An Approach to the Analysis of Political Systems.
World Politics
, 9
(3)
, 383-400.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2008920
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.2307/2008920