Contenu du sommaire : Analyse de systèmes en sciences sociales (II)

Michel Crozier : Feelings, organizations and systems. Most human actions are influenced by a set of systems that insure their integration and regulation. They can be analyzed by the methods and logic specific to the sociology of organizations. Its hypothetical framework, similar to the relationship approach of group dynamics, tends towards action and gives preference to consciousness, rationality and organization. The analysis of attitudes, feelings and behaviours stemming from the actors' speech refers to the roles and power component of every organized relationship, the rules of the play are made of structures and hierarchies. There is an evolution both convergent and contradictory : systems are becoming more and more organized and regulated; organizations more and more open and flexible. The combination of different macrosociological approaches in system analysis enables us to determine several types of integrative processes and may open out to an evaluation of the organizational capacity of a given society.

Bernard Cazes : Felicific calculus in Government activities. During the 50's and 60's social expenditures have increased at such a rate that it cannot be maintained for a very long time; moreover this rapid expansion has not been followed by a parallel rise in satisfaction. These two factors explain the interest taken in many countries in methods for improving the rationality of public choices. The use of these methods has three main consequences. Firstly, they typically lead to formulate official goals at the national level, or at least to a regular measurement of the state of the society through social indicators. That creates two problems : 1. the identification of causal relationships between social output indicators and the activities which influence the numerical values they take; 2. the regrouping of social measurements in a limited number of areas. Secondly, these methods imply a «holistic» approach, i.e. a refusal to cope with the issues on a piece-meal basis in order to minimize the risks of sub-optimization. The holistic approach cannot be applied between different goals of a final character ? except through rather unsatisfying conventions ? because of difficulties inherent in weighting individual outputs. Generally its use implies comparisons between costs an benefits of policies related to similar purposes. Here a distinction can be made between comparisons within the status quo which allow to clarify, area by area, the links connecting public activities and their measurable social output, and comparisons between the prevailing situation and feasible alternatives, where systems analysis comes in. Finally policy analysis is less exclusively concerned with the « advocacy process because it considers that one must assess the effectiveness of a solution before trying to know about its acceptability. Beyond the spurious criticisms darted at those who try to bring some analytical rigour in public affairs one should be aware that the political arena is an unpromising field in that respect for a number of reasons related to the manner in which decisions are prepared, implemented, or evaluated ex post. One of the possible by-products of the drive for more effectiveness could be a slowing down of decision-making process such as to make modern life less hectic.

Georges Lavau : The political system and its environment. This article aims at examining one of the most controversal aspects of system analysis, when applied to political processes, for example by D. Easton : the relationship between the societal social system and the political system. The author criticizes the double hypothesis according to which, on one hand the social system could be analytically differentiated from the political system and considered as one of the environmental elements of the latter. On the other hand, input mecanisms (such as interest groups, political parties, and mass media) set at the border of the political system, would be the needed instruments for an interaction between the two systems. The author analyses three ideal-type situations characterized either by a relative mutual autonomy of the prevailing social actors, or by a subordination of the latter to the former, or else by a domination of political actors upon social actors; he brings out two main conclusions : 1) some of the most significant elements of the political system are part of the social system; 2) ideologies and values systems, common to both, illustrate best the variations of their interactions.

Claude Polin : David Easton or the difficulties of a specific trend of political sociology. Starting with a brief description of the main features of Easton's systematization of politics, the author shows how each of them represents, to a certain extent unconsciously, merely a contemporary version of old features of classical liberal thinking in politics (which poses its gradual vanishing), and therefore he questions the claimed universality of Easton's model. To that end, it is shown that Easton is unable to define what is specifically political in such key points as the content of a « political demand », or the working of the political system proper, and more radically that he cannot fit into his scheme such key notions as ideology, legitimacy, or power.

Annick Percheron : Applications of system analysis. This article attempts to examine some of the existing applications of Easton's theoretical model. There are three sorts of applications : 1) Application of the entire theoretical model : to a political system taking shape as the E.E.C., made by Lindberg, to a political party, the French communist party, made by Lavau. 2) The thinking out of certain concepts : such as support or demand ? i.e. especially the studies about political socialization directed by Easton and Dennis. 3) Reinterpretation of anthropological data. Does system analysis facilitate the comparison between the political systems of « primitive » and of « modern » societies.