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Political decay


Political decay is a political theory, originally described by Samuel P. Huntington, which describes how chaos and disorder can arise from social modernization increasing more rapidly than political and institutional modernization. Huntington provides different definitions for political development and describes the forms of political decay according to the various definitions. Huntington focuses primarily on political development as modernization and institutionalization. However, he points to the different definitions of political development as being arbitrary ways to understanding the rise of political systems and the relationship between the political systems in different nations.

Huntington identifies two characteristics of political development. The first is that development is synonymous with modernization, thus political development can be defined as political modernization. The second is that there are many criteria to measure political development because modernization and development are such broad topics, covering many areas. There are four generally agreed-upon criteria to determine political development. The first is rationalization, which involves the movement from particularism to universalism, or, from a political standpoint, a focus on functional differentiation and achievement criteria. The second criterion is nationalism, and national integration. This emphasizes nation-states and nation-building as a key aspect of political development. The third criterion is a focus on democratization, which is in essence a focus on competition and equalization of power. The final criterion is mobilization, which is a focus on political participation. The greater the development, the greater the modernization, the greater the mobilization, and therefore the greater the political participation. Ultimately, political development can be defined as an increase in national political unity and an increase in political participation.

According to Huntington's definition of political development as modernization, political decay is the opposite of the linear idea of social progress—although, within the model of modernization, social regression is not possible. Instead, political decay takes place because "modern and modernizing states can change by losing capabilities as well as by gaining them. In addition, a gain in any one capability usually involves costs in others." The model of modernization was used to compare the political systems of different countries with social development reflecting the linear progression of political institutions. However, research into the relationship between development of political institutions and modernization has pointed to inconsistent development. In some political systems, such as certain Latin American regions, governments have been influenced by military intervention as a result of the government's inability to cope with the strains of modernization.


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