DAVID EASTON’S SYSTEM ANALYSIS
David Easton was the first thinker to employ the system analysis in political system in his work
‘Political System’ (1953). According to Easton, “Political system is an interaction in any society through
which authoritative and binding allocations of values are made and implemented.”
A system conceptually stands for a set of elements that are structurally related to one another and
interacts on the basis of certain characteristic processes. The political system is conceived in terms of some
identifiable process. The political system is presented as a ‘responding’ and ‘self-regulating’ system. It can
adapt itself to the environmental pressures and changes, and possesses a mechanism for changing,
correcting and readjusting its structures and process in the face of disrupting tendencies.
Demand
Support
Political System
Decisions
Policies
OUTPUTS
INPUTS
Environment
FEEDBACK
Environment
Easton conceived ‘inputs’ in the form of demands and supports while ‘outputs’ are produced in the
form of authoritative decision and policies. The outputs enter the environment so to give rise to new
demands through the mechanism of ‘feedback’. Demands may be (1) allocation of goods and services, such as, education, health, wages, working conditions, etc.
(2) regulation of behavior – law and order, control of market, etc.
(3) participation in political system – right to vote, form political association, etc.
(4) communication and information regarding policies of government.
Demands cannot be satisfied without support. Support may be –
(1) material support like, payment of taxes and other dues.
(2) Obedience to the law.
(3) Participatory support – voting, political decision.
(4) Paying attention to government communication of policies.
‘Inputs’ are converted into ‘outputs’ in the form of policies and decisions. They may be –
(1) Taxation and economic policies.
(2) Regulation of laws.
(3) Distribution of resources, employment, etc.
‘Outputs’ flow back into the environment through a ‘feedback’ mechanism, giving rise to fresh demands.
Thus, it is a cyclical process.
Criticisms:
(1) It is abstract in nature. It does not offer systematic way of analyzing international system and ignores
the influence of international relations.
(2) It failed to elaborate conversion process. It remained vague on how inputs are converted into
outputs. (3) It cannot be used for studying developing political system.
(4) Obsession with systematic persistence. It ignored social change and revolution. The theory is
dominated by equilibrium orientation.
(5) Automatic response is not possible in reality.
Conclusion:
System analysis has been useful for comparative study of political systems. For example, if a
political system does not take care of demands of people and arbitrarily make policies then it can be
termed as dictatorial system, if political system takes into consideration of only market force then it is a
capitalist system and if political system consider demands of the poor and the downtrodden then it may be
called a welfare state. It has served as a basis for various political models.