Levels of An Analysis Singer
Levels of An Analysis Singer
Levels of An Analysis Singer
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Cambridge University Press and Trustees of Princeton University are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
preserve and extend access to World Politics.
http://www.jstor.org
THE LEVEL-OF-ANALYSIS PROBLEM
IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
By J. DAVID SINGER
discipline.3
Suchtranquillity maybe seenbysomeas a reassuring indi-
cationthattheissueis notgermane to ourfield,and byothersas evi-
dencethatit has alreadybeenresolved, butthiswriter perceives the
quietudewitha measureof concern.He is quitepersuadedof its
relevanceand certain thatit has yetto be resolved. Rather,it is con-
tendedthattheissuehas beenignoredbyscholars stillsteepedin the
intuitive
and artistictraditionof thehumanities or enmeshed in the
webof"practical" policy.We have,in ourtextsandelsewhere, roamed
up anddowntheladderoforganizational complexitywithremarkable
abandon,focusing uponthetotalsystem, internationalorganizations,
regions,
coalitions,
extra-national
associations, nations,
domesticpressure
groups,socialclasses, andindividuals
elites, as theneedsofthemoment
Andthough
required. mostofus havetendedtosettle uponthenation
as ourmostcomfortable restingplace,we haveretained ourpropensity
forverticaldrift,failingto appreciate thevalueof a stablepointof
focus.4
Whether thislackofconcern is a functionoftherelativeinfancy
ofthedisciplineorthenature oftheintellectual traditions
fromwhence
it springs,
it neverthelessremainsa significant
variablein the general
sluggishness whichcharacterizesthedevelopment oftheoryin thestudy
of relationsamongnations.It is thepurposeof thispaperto raisethe
issue,articulatethe alternatives,
and examinethe theoreticalimplica-
tionsand consequencesof two of themorewidelyemployedlevelsof
analysis:the internationalsystemand the nationalsub-systems.