FUNCTIONALISM AND ITS CRITICS - Intercollegiate Studies Institute

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FUNCTIONALISM AND ITS CRITICS political life in societies whose formal structure differs from ours, and the kind of moralizing which assumes that societies lacking certain Western institutions are somehow at a lower stage of development. In the end we will develop a better perspective on our own and other advanced societies, because we will come to realize that, while the same functions must be performed in all societies, they can be performed ,by a variety of different structures which are related to each other in quite different ways than is the case of our own or other European systems. Finally, in so far as this approach orders our empirical material more systematically, and leads to the discovery of new data, it should help us develop theories and lawlike statements about the political process. '1 Any conceptual scheme, even if only classificatory, has embedded within it some general model the relationships which its creator hopes to clarify. The model Almond chose was derived from the work of David Easton." Easton conceived of the political system essentially as a mechanism for converting demands from the society (inputs) into policies which involved the "authoritative allocation of values " (outputs) and further supports for the system through a feedback loop. Although the discerning reader can probably detect at least a tension between this model and some of Almond 's definitions, his efforts in The Politics of the Developing Areas were largely directed to explicating in some detail what kinds of activities this conversion process entailed. Before demands could become politically relevant they had to be articulated in some way, and since, theoretically, the number of demands was infinite, they had to be aggregated into a relatively smaller number of policy alternatives before processing could take place. If values were to be allocated in an authoritative manner, the system had to include mechanisms for rule making, rule application, and rule adjudication. Finally, mechanisms had to be created for recruiting individuals into political roles, and for communicating both demands and policy decisions. " The study of how these conversion mechanisms perform their 1l lbid., pp. 9-17. In this summary I have made explicit a few points which are only implicit in Almond ' s discussion. 12 " " An Approach to the Analysis of Political Systems, David Easton, World Politics IX ( April, 1957), pp. 383 if. Easton developed his ideas more fully in: A Framework for Political Analysis (New York, 1965) and A Systems Analysis of Political Life ( New York, 1965). 13 Developing Areas, pp. 15-19. 241
242 THE POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEWER functions in various political systems constitutes the meat of comparative politics for Almond, and the essay attempts to demonstrate the utility of an approach with this focus in organizing political data, as well as its fruitfulness in the development of law-like statements of a " probabilistic " kind. For example, Almond argues that if various interest groups in a society make " raw " demands upon governmental institutions, rather than allowing these demands to be aggregated by political parties, such demands will be more difficult to process and the result may well be political instability. 14 Almond is convinced that the most important differences between political systems pertain to whether they are " traditional " or " modern. " Traditional societies with traditional political systems are those characterized by particularistic, ascriptive and functionally diffuse norms and structures, while modern societies tend to be characterized by universalistic, achievement, and functionally specific norms and structures. The classification is one derived from contemporary sociological analysis and Almond is careful to point out that the concepts refer to " ideal types. " No society is completely modern or completely traditional. All societies contain a mixture of modern and traditional elements. Modern societies are more highly differentiated than traditional ones, such that specialized structures have been created for the performance of particular functions. Nevertheless, even in advanced societies all political structures are multifunctional, and the analysis of the relation between function and structure is always a highly complex matter. 76 Nevertheless, it is already clear that Almond ' s standard for analyzing societies is derived from advanced industrial European communities such as England and the United States. Further, the metaphor is already an organic one. The structures to be found in " advanced " societies are implicit in traditional societies, which modernize, in part, by a process of differentiation. Latent in the conception is an evolutionary theory of social change which becomes explicit in his later work; and at least one problem is also discernible here: Almond tells us that his list of functions is derived from the classic separation of powers doctrines of European and American political theorists. " Logically this fact is of ' Ibid., p. 35. "Ibid., pp. 24-25. "Comparative Politics, pp. 10-12.
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