Structuredes « fonctionnalismes » en science politique

In: Canadian journal of political science: CJPS = Revue canadienne de science politique, Band 3, Heft 2, S. 205-240

Abstract

Even if "functionalism" is a relative newcomer to the study of politics, its theoretical roots are in the classics of political science. Thus it is ironic to note that the political theorists who have reintroduced the notion of functionalism have relied upon models inspired by anthropological and sociological theory.Every functionalist approach is fundamentally holistic and system-oriented. Functionalist theorists may be in error when they deny their common origin, whether direct or metaphorical, in biology. If "the great curse of functionalism is its 'ism,' the least of its weaknesses is its plural." There is more than one functionalism. With respect to political science alone, the author considers the contributions to functional theory of Ernst Haas, Karl Deutsch, David Easton, Gabriel Almond, and Amitai Etzioni.An outline of the author's own research is then presented in the light of the works considered. He argues for a more rigorous functionalism – a "functionalism of functions" which would be derived from specificallypoliticalbehaviour, rather than cross-disciplinary borrowings from other sciences that are theoretically more fertile. The ideal would be the development of apolito-logiqueof the emergence of political from social phenomena which would depart from the core or nerve centre of political functioning: the interplay of the four essential functions of government, legislation, administration, and adjudication.Although they are usually differentiated, political and social systems overlap and are interdependent. It is useful to consider them as a single organism, responsive to internal as well as external exigencies. With the notions offunction, level, perspective,andfieldof analysis, the author indicates how one can move from a model of the functions of the State(Fonctionnement de l'état)to a dynamic conception of the state in operation(L'état en fonctionnement).Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of not denying the political, but of remaining at the level of the political, in order to achieve the greatest theoretical success.