The Subsystem Family of Concepts: A Critique and a Proposal

The subsystem concept has been widely utilized by political scientists for many decades. The various concepts that fall under this rubric have been greatly modified and improved in recent years. However, a number of problems persist. This essay explains why the subsystem concept has been so popular...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political research quarterly 1998-06, Vol.51 (2), p.551-570
Main Author: McCool, Daniel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conceptual hierarchies
Conceptualization
Energy policy
Environmental policy
Field Essay
Literature
Political conflict
Political interest groups
Political power
Political research
Political science
Political science research
POLITICAL THEORY
Public policy
SCHOLARLY ENDEAVORS AND REVIEWS OF SCHOLARSHIP
Typology
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Summary:The subsystem concept has been widely utilized by political scientists for many decades. The various concepts that fall under this rubric have been greatly modified and improved in recent years. However, a number of problems persist. This essay explains why the subsystem concept has been so popular and enduring, and then discusses three problems in the application and use of subsystem concepts. It then proposes that a different approach, which emphasizes function rather than structure, be utilized, and develops the idea of a "hierarchy of conflict" to help improve the utility of the subsystem model. This permits the development of a typology of subsystem strategies, and the formulation of basic hypotheses.
ISSN:1065-9129
1938-274X
DOI:10.1177/106591299805100213