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This paper, which was originally published in the journal Comparative Political Studies in 1999, is the second of two that elaborate a relatively general approach to judicial politics, which emphasizes the underlying social logics not just of law and courts but also of politics and government. The triad – two contracting parties and a dispute resolver – constitutes a primal social institution, a microcosm of governance, so in uncovering the institutional dynamics of the triad an essential logic of government itself is also uncovered; the objectives of this paper are to defend the validity of these contentions and to demonstrate their centrality to the discipline. After introducing the key concepts of dyad, triad, and normative structure, a model is presented of a particular mode of governance, i.e. the social mechanism by which the rules in place in any given community are adapted to the experiences and exigencies of those who live under them. The theory integrates, as interdependent factors, the evolution of strategic (utility-maximizing) behaviour and normative (cultural or rule-based) structure, and captures dynamics of change observable at both the micro level (the behaviour of individual actors), and the macro level (the institutional environment, or social structure, in which this behaviour takes place); the mechanisms of change that are endogenous to the model are specified, and the conditions under which these mechanisms would be expected to operate, and fail to operate, are identified. The model is then used to explain two hard cases of systemic change: the international trade regime, established by the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); and the French Fifth Republic, founded in 1958; the conclusion draws out some of the implications of the analysis for understanding of the complex relationship between strategic behaviour and social structure.

This essay evaluates Toril Moi’s arguments for abandoning the concept of gender for feminist theory and replacing it with the concept of lived body derived from existential phenomenology. It agrees with Moi that lived body is a better concept than gender as a category theorizing subjectivity. However, it argues that we need to retain and reposition a concept of gender for theorizing social structure. This essay serves as a theoretical introduction to some of the concepts applied in the succeeding essays.

This chapter discusses the theory and empirics of social interactions, with particular emphasis on the role of social context in individual decisions. It begins by introducing a sequence of models that highlight applications in different empirical social interaction settings, including a simple static model that is used to link social interactions theory with social networks theory, notably random graph theory. A dynamic model, where the social structure accommodates a variety of social interaction motives, is then described and solved as a dynamic system of evolving individual actions. The solution links social interactions theory with spatial econometrics. The chapter examines the econometrics of social interactions in social networks and social learning in urban settings before concluding with a review of the literature on social interactions in economics.

Investigates temporal changes in Hungarian mobility patterns. Large-scale data sets of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, collected between 1973 and 2000 are used for this purpose. In addition to descriptive statistics, log-linear and log-multiplicative models are fitted to the data in order to investigate trends of temporal changes. Descriptive results indicate that the restructuring of the class distribution slowed down in the 1980s in comparison to the 1970s but it increased again in the 1990s. Observed mobility rates turned out to be relatively high but data does not indicate an increase in the openness of the Hungarian society. For relative mobility rates, the hypothesis of constant social fluidity cannot be rejected for Hungary. Though an increase in social fluidity did occur between 1973 and 1983, it levelled off between 1983 and 1992, and it reversed between 1992 and 2000.

Taking the example of unified Germany, this chapter examines how a democratic culture can develop among people who have lived for decades in an autocratic state. The first section outlines the theoretical framework, starting with the concept of political support, and going on to consider various normative models of democracy in order to understand what type of democracy people in West and East Germany ultimately prefer. Discusses the formation of democratic attitudes within state‐socialist systems, comparing demonstration and socialization hypotheses on the influence of the social structure on political attitudes. On this basis, expectations about attitudes towards democracy among the East German population are formulated. Develops the empirical analysis further by examining trends in democratic attitudes among West and East Germans—including the commitment to democratic values and principles, support for democratic institutions, and satisfaction with democratic performance. The conclusion summarizes the most important findings and considers their consequences for the prospects of democracy in a unified Germany.

An analysis is presented of the creation and development of rules governing the organizational form and the policy content of the European Central Bank (ECB). The establishment of the ECB and the launching of the Euro constitute an extraordinary innovation, one that opens and organizes a new institutional space in Europe. The ECB system is assessed in the light of three broad theoretical approaches emphasizing, respectively, power politics, institutions as rational solutions to collective problems, and pre-existing normative (social) structures. Power politics and functional rationality approaches are found to fail to account for important aspects of the ECB’s rules and policy mandates, while, in contrast, a sociological emphasis on institutional context is useful in explaining the continuities linking the ECB to the normative structure that had previously developed – largely within the network of central-bank governors – and diffused throughout the organizational field in which monetary policy-making was embedded. It was the need to legitimize the new ECB in terms of these broader norms that shaped the ECB’s organizational structure and governing rules: in particular, pre-existing norms influenced three key aspects of the ECB – its political independence, its criteria for membership, and its rules for price stability.

This chapter introduces the concepts of identity and identity theory. It studies the nature of individuals and the basis of their actions and action choices or motivations. It considers some important thoughts on social structure and reviews some ideas on the nature of the agents or actors that produce the behavior. It also discusses the concept of structural symbolic interaction, which serves as the basis of identity theory. The chapter also outlines the other chapters in this book.

This chapter examines the impact of contemporary American family structure on the ageing process. It is shown that mature Americans will have increasingly heterogeneous family histories and statues. Thus, the importance of family to the ageing experience will increase.

In contrast to Hidemi Suganami in the first chapter, the author argues that the English School of International Relations has made, and can continue to make, an important contribution to the study of world history. In particular, he suggests that the three traditions of world politics – international system, international society, and world society – provide a useful way of thinking about the many different types of international societies and systems that have permeated world history. Adopts a world historical focus on the more familiar distinction drawn by the founding fathers of the English School between the political structures that define an international system and the social structures that define an international society, the aim being to demonstrate that a range of different international societies and systems have, across the course of world history, given way to a single worldwide international society/system. Begins by examining the debate about the validity of distinguishing between international systems and societies, and then looks at the interaction between international systems and societies in the premodern world. Goes on to outline the establishment of the European international system/society and its contact with other international systems/societies, and concludes by assessing the utility of adopting a world historical perspective and drawing a pluralistic distinction between international systems and societies.

This chapter examines British rule in Mesopotamia/Iraq during the years 1918-1958. There were two dominant features of the British position in Mesopotamia (now known as Iraq) that were largely to influence its history until, and in fact after, the end of the mandate in 1932. First, as in the other mandates, Britain’s position there was ambiguous as the very concept of a mandate was new and undefined. The second fundamental feature of post-1918 Iraq was that it had no historical, religious, or ethnic homogeneity. In this chapter, the British experience in Iraq will be examined under four heads: first, the indigenous social structure; second, the early British response to 1932; third, Iraqi politics and society from 1920 to 1941; and finally, the revival, decline, and fall of British influence, 1941 to 1958.

This chapter provides a comparative background for the study of dog behaviour by introducing the main behavioural features of dog-like species of Canis. The main aim here is to give an understanding of evolutionary and ecological constraints that might have played an important role in shaping the behaviour of this group of predators. Most emphasis is given to the behaviour of the wolf, which is considered to be the ancestor of all dogs living today. A detailed review of the social aspects of wolf behaviour offers also a comparison to the similar traits in feral dogs.

Over many centuries, societies in Europe have come to be structured as national societies, within which the cities were mostly organized in relation to the national social structure. Classes and social relations were less specifically urban, and the European city lost its social originality. The category of ‘European city’ did not make sense any more, as, despite some similarities, each of the nation-states followed its own path. This process, although never fully completed, reached its peak during the decades following World War II. Classically, the concept of society is taken to refer to three ideas: of intensity of relations between individuals and groups, of capacity and autonomy, and finally, of territory. European cities are not unchanging. However, the relative stability of their situation combines with their internal diversity and social consumption groups, protected by the welfare state, to give them a relative robustness. This chapter also discusses poverty, social segregation, and social and cultural diversity within European cities.

The reasons why, prior to modern times, no single system of political power ever succeeded in bringing all of the Indian continent and its peoples under the rule of a single imperium can be found within cultural, social, religious, and political complexities and dynamics of the continent itself. Between hundreds, if not thousands, of ethnically distinct respectable castes, intermarriage or interdining had not been acceptable. Intricate mosaics and networks of segmented and tightly stratified social structure and political power made the task of bringing all of India under one umbrella so difficult to achieve that processes of disintegration and fragmentation tended to undermine processes of political integration and unification. This chapter focuses on how and why such obstacles to political integration were overcome. It explains how fissiparous forces, tendencies, and traditions were gradually reversed, and how this was done by means and methods, manpower and money, that were a hybrid of indigenous and foreign influences.

This chapter explores the relationship formed between the social structure of India and its contemporary patterns. It tries to show how this relates to the theories of social cleavage alignment, and examines change in the cleavage structure of party competition. The chapter also discusses how different contemporary patterns of political conflict in India are from those of the past.