Varieties of Political theory / edited by David Easton

This volume is part of a new series in political science that is de voted to empirically oriented theory. Nothing testifies more eloquently to the growing strength of empirical political theory than the conviction that now, after more than twenty-five hundred years of development, it is for the first time possible to think of building a publication series out of volumes devoted exclusively to the construction of such theory. The series is itself a sign of the times; we hope it will also provide a means for vigorously and creatively reinforcing the present tendencies.

This series will contribute to the development of contemporary politi cal theory in several distinctive ways. First and foremost, our primary objec tive is to gather together brief but exciting monographs that will explore alternative approaches to empirical theory. Some of these may be concerned with general, overarching theories that seek to bring order and coherence to the whole field of political science. Others may devote themselves to less comprehensive, partial theories that help to integrate selected aspects of political life, intranational, international, and cross-national. Still others may seek to explore the theoretical assumptions of existing empirical re search and to systematize and assess their findings in the hope of bringing added clarity to a subfield, enhancing its theoretical relevance, and giving it a new sense of purpose and direction. Although the main emphasis will be on stimulating the production of critical and creative works that deal with the substance of theories in such areas, on occasion it will be appro priate to include volumes that direct their attention to the methodological tasks of theory construction itself.