geared to the proper level of abstraction so as to include the essentials needed for political analysis. They find that it should be capable of generating hypotheses. The theory should allow investigators sufficient freedom to choose from among the empirical data the particular phenomena and structures that relate to the general concepts embedded in the theory. The theory should not prescribe one and only one research procedure but should instead make it possible to use the procedure to be the most feasible under the existing field situations.
The theory they offer as fulfilling these conditions is David Easton's system theory, a model that is highly abstract but that nonetheless fits the requirements. He views a "system" as a decision-making mechanism operating within the framework of beliefs and attitudes held by the people abou
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