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An Introduction to the Theory and Measurement of Influence

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  • March, James G.

Abstract

The science of politics is a science of human behavior. It concerns itself with a specific segment of the activities of humans—those which either take place in, or have a clearly discernible effect upon, the formal governmental machinery of the community. The characteristic feature of a political scientist, therefore, is not his unique theoretical framework but his special empirical interest. Two main consequences follow. First, it is trivially true, and widely recognized, that the major concepts of other behavior sciences are necessarily an integral part of the study of political behavior. Second, it is equally true that, within the social sciences, it is the responsibility of political science to develop those elements of behavior theory that are particularly relevant for the analysis of action in the sphere of politics.Much of current empirical and theoretical work in political analysis is organized around the observation that many political data can be conceived to represent results of mechanisms for decision-making used (consciously or unconsciously) by individuals or collectivities. In a similar fashion, students of a significant number of other types of behavior have tended to formulate their problems within a decision-making framework. When one examines these apparently disparate branches of behavior theory, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that there exist potentially fruitful parallelisms among such theories as those of consumer behavior, administrative behavior, price setting, legislative enactments, propaganda, learning, foreign affairs, and social control.

Suggested Citation

  • March, James G., 1955. "An Introduction to the Theory and Measurement of Influence," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(2), pages 431-451, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:49:y:1955:i:02:p:431-451_06
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    Cited by:

    1. Zusman, Pinhas, 1995. "Public Policy for Agriculture: The Role of Constitutions, Institutions and Political Economy," 1994 Conference, August 22-29, 1994, Harare, Zimbabwe 183388, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Andreas Dür, 2008. "Measuring Interest Group Influence in the EU," European Union Politics, , vol. 9(4), pages 559-576, December.
    3. David A. Baldwin, 1971. "Inter-nation influence revisited," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 15(4), pages 471-486, December.
    4. Alfio Giarlotta & Angelo Petralia, 2024. "Simon’s bounded rationality," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 47(1), pages 327-346, June.
    5. Martin Shubik, 1973. "Game Theory and Political Science," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 351, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    6. Charles M. Weber & Rainer P. Hasenauer & Nitin V. Mayande, 2018. "Toward a Pragmatic Theory for Managing Nescience," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(05), pages 1-26, October.
    7. Thomas Hickmann & Frank Biermann & Matteo Spinazzola & Charlotte Ballard & Maya Bogers & Oana Forestier & Agni Kalfagianni & Rakhyun E. Kim & Francesco S. Montesano & Tom Peek & Carole‐Anne Sénit & Me, 2023. "Success factors of global goal‐setting for sustainable development: Learning from the Millennium Development Goals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1214-1225, June.
    8. James N. Rosenau, 1969. "Intervention as a scientific concept," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 13(2), pages 149-171, June.
    9. Naciye Bey, 2022. "Configurational analysis of environmental NGOs and their influence on environmental policy in Turkey," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Peter V. Marsden & Noah E. Friedkin, 1993. "Network Studies of Social Influence," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 22(1), pages 127-151, August.
    11. James M. Snyder Jr. & Michael M. Ting & Stephen Ansolabehere, 2005. "Legislative Bargaining under Weighted Voting," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 981-1004, September.
    12. Milczarek-Andrzejewska, Dominika & Śpiewak, Ruta, 2017. "The resources and channels of influence of farmers’ associations - evidence from Poland," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 261268, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Piet Verschuren & Bas Arts, 2005. "Quantifying influence in complex decision making by means of paired comparisons," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 38(5), pages 495-516, January.
    14. Andre Blais, 1974. "Power and causality," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 45-63, March.
    15. Schaerer, Michael & du Plessis, Christilene & Yap, Andy J. & Thau, Stefan, 2018. "Low power individuals in social power research: A quantitative review, theoretical framework, and empirical test," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 73-96.

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