• A system is a collection of ELEMENTS that are related to each other by

some PATTERN of behavior and actions.

1. Purpose
The purpose of the political system is to convert inputs (demands and
supports) into outputs (decisions)

2. Elements
The elements of system are political actions (decisions, demands,
supports, implementation actions, etc.)

3. Boundaries
The boundary of the system determines what is part of the system and
what is not - IE - what actions are political and what actions are not.
Actions that are political are inside the system (endogenous)

4. Environment
All actions and conditions that are NOT political are in the environment
exogenous)
Easton's definition of the Political System
• Political System: "A set of interactions abstracted from the
totality of social behavior, through which
values are authoritatively allocated for a society.“
• Authoritative allocation of values: similar to Lasswell's
defintion of politics: "Who gets ----, ---- and ---"