Political Order in Changing Societies
Political Order in Changing Societies is a 1968 book by Samuel P. Huntington dealing with changes in political systems and political institutions. Huntington argues that those changes are caused by tensions within the political and social system, and criticizes modernization theory, contending that its argument for economic change and development being the prime factors responsible for the creation of stable, democratic political systems is flawed. Focusing on other factors like urbanization, increased literacy, social mobilization, and economic growth, he stresses that those factors are not significantly related to political development; in fact a major part of his argument is that those processes are related but distinct.
Huntington argues that order itself is a crucial objective in developing countries. The existence (or lack) of order should not be confused with the issue of the type of that order (both on political level - democratic, authoritarian, and on economic level - socialist, free-market, etc.) While modernity equals stability, modernization is actually a cause for instability, due to urbanization, rising expectations due to literacy, education and the spread of media, etc.
Influences
Controversial on first release,[1] and not only in the west, the book is favored by Chinese Neoconservatives.[2] The events of the June 4th incident seemed to confirm to them their belief in a strong state, considering it important in economic growth along the lines of Asian "tiger" economies, and considering China's autocratic model to actually be weak and ineffectual. They continued to draw ideas from Samuel Huntington and his Political Order in Changing Societies in particular; whatever his use as a foreigner who advocated limiting the scope of democracy, his ideas seemed to have merit on their own.[3]
References
- ^ https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/1997-09-01/political-order-changing-societies
- ^ Peter Moody 2007. p.151-152. Conservative Thought in Contemporary China. https://books.google.com/books?id=PpRcDMl2Pu4C&pg=PA151
- ^ Peter Moody 2007. p.151-152. Conservative Thought in Contemporary China. https://books.google.com/books?id=PpRcDMl2Pu4C&pg=PA151
External links
- Reviewed by Francis Fukuyama, Foreign Affairs, September/October 1997
- Review author[s]: A. F. K. Organski, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 63, No. 3. (Sep., 1969), pp. 921–922.
- Gordon C. Ruscoe, Comparative Education Review, Vol. 14, No. 3, Papers and Proceedings: Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society, Atlanta Georgia, March 22-24, 1970. (Oct., 1970), pp. 385-386.
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