Unsystematic Introduction to the Theory of Political Systems

N. A. Antonovich. The Theory of Political Systems: A Textbook. Minsk, 2008. 208 pp.

Nina Antonovich’s The Theory of Political Systems is a generalization of the author’s scholarly and teaching work on political systems. It is perhaps the first attempt in Belarusian political science to present and summarize systematically the theoretical foundations of the systems approach in political science. This alone deserves attention.

The textbook includes a general introduction to the systems approach and general systems theory; a historical overview of the development of systems thinking in political science, from structural functionalism and models of the political system to cultural approaches; a discussion of “post-systemic” approaches, including Anthony Giddens’s theory of structuration, Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social and political fields, and new institutionalism; an attempt to typologize political systems; a brief excursion into organization theory; and an overview of systems studies in international relations, including Morton Kaplan and Immanuel Wallerstein.

As the preface states, the textbook is intended to fill a gap, since a number of contemporary works contain inaccurate and incomplete ideas about the potential of the theory of political systems. The author therefore makes a fairly ambitious claim. For substantial reasons, however, the result cannot be called fully successful.

The main weakness of the textbook is its eclecticism. The author tries to fit an extremely wide range of theories, names and approaches into one relatively small volume. As a result, the exposition often becomes descriptive rather than analytical. Different theoretical traditions are placed side by side, but the connections between them are not always explained clearly.

The book is also marked by an uneven balance between educational clarity and theoretical precision. It may be useful for students as an initial orientation in the field, especially because Belarusian-language and locally produced materials on this topic are limited. Yet as a serious introduction to the theory of political systems it remains insufficiently coherent.

Despite these shortcomings, the publication is significant as a symptom of the institutional development of Belarusian political science. It shows the desire to introduce major theoretical approaches into the local academic context. At the same time, it also demonstrates how difficult it is to build a consistent conceptual framework when the field itself is still developing.