Development and change in political systemspolitical The magnitude and variety of the changes that occurred in the world’s political systems beginning in the early 20th century suggest the dimensions of the problem

Development and change in political systemspolitical Great empires disintegrated; nation-states emerged, flourished briefly, and then vanished; world wars twice transformed the international system; new ideologies swept the world and shook established groups from power; all but a few countries experienced at least one revolution and many countries two or more;

Development and change in political systemspolitical domestic politics in every system were contorted by social strife and economic crisis; and everywhere the nature of political life was changed by novel forms of political activity, new means of mass communication, the enlargement of popular participation in politics, the rise of new political issues

Development and change in political systemspolitical the extension of the scope of governmental activity, the threat of nuclear war, and innumerable other social, economic, and technical developments.

Causes of stability and instability Although it is possible to identify a number of factors that obviously have a great deal to do with contemporary development and change in the world’s political systems— industrialization, population growth, the “revolution of rising expectations” in the less developed countries, and international tensions—there is no agreed theory to explain the causes of political change

Causes of stability and instability Some social scientists have followed Aristotle’s view that political instability is generally the result of a situation in which the distribution of wealth fails to correspond with the distribution of political power and have echoed his conclusion that the most stable type of political system is one based on a large middle class

Causes of stability and instability Others have adopted Marxist theories of economic determinism that view all political change as the result of changes in the mode of production.

Causes of stability and instability Still others have focused on governing elites and their composition and have seen in the alienation of the elite from the mass the prime cause of revolutions and other forms of violent political change.

UNSTABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS In modern times the great majority of the world’s political systems have experienced one form or another of internal warfare leading to violent collapse of the governments in power

UNSTABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS Many factors in such a situation, including: the cheapening of human life, the dislocation of population, the ready availability of arms, the disintegration of authority, the discrediting of the national leadership, material scarcities, violent mass action are acceptable to large numbers of people

UNSTABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS Economic crises. A severe national economic crisis works, in much the same way as a military disaster, to discredit the existent leadership and the present regime

UNSTABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS Unstable political systems are those that prove vulnerable to crisis pressures and that break down into various forms of internal warfare. The fundamental causes of such failures appear to be the lack of a widespread sense of the legitimacy of state authority and the absence of some general agreement on appropriate forms of political action

STABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS The simplest definition of a stable political system is one that survives through crises without internal warfare

STABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS Several types of political systems have done so, including despotic monarchies, militarist regimes, and other authoritarian and totalitarian systems

STABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS. After 1868, in the period of the restoration regime under the Meiji emperor, Japan succeeded, without major political breakdowns, in building an industrial state and developing commercial structures that transformed traditional Japanese society. This achievement was based on the development of centralized patterns of political control and the growth of a type of authoritarianism involving the rule of military elite

STABLE POLITICAL SYSTEMS survival does not depend on the detailed management of the society or close governmental control over social processes but is the result of sensitive political response to the forces of change, of flexible adjustment of the structures of the system to meet the pressures of innovation, and of open political processes that allow gradual and orderly development.