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Political Species
In Political Species, Karsten Ronit expertly argues that evolutionary biology

can provide important sources of inspiration for analyzing the proliferation of
private actors/organizations in domestic and global politics. Focusing on the
evolution of a diversity of such private actors/organizations in politics, Ronit
emphasizes that individuals are affected by and contribute to societal, cultural,
and political evolution through a range of formal organizations and that societies,
cultures, and politics influence and build upon values and norms transmitted by
individuals via these formal organizations. By being mindful of these contextual
factors and keeping in mind the important research done in the micro- and
macro-perspectives, we can gain a better understanding of the diversity of private
actors/organizations and how they evolve and adapt. Evolutionary biology
teaches us that over time, different varieties emerge, specialize, and adapt to
the ever-changing conditions in complex environments before accumulating into
new species. Much change characterizes these processes of political evolution
because actors constantly emerge and add to the existing population of private
actors that, in one way or another, are engaged in politics.
Karsten Ronit is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science

at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has broad competence in the
study of organized interests with special expertise in business and employer
associations, civil society organizations, and other intermediary institutions.
He takes an interest in the comparative aspects of politics and business and
examines how business and civil society operate in different national contexts.
He is also engaged in projects examining the behavior of business and civil
society organizations at the international level. He has published in a number
of international journals, contributed to many books, and more recently
published the monographs Global Business Associations (Routledge, 2018) and
The Governance of Global Industry Associations: The Role of Micro-Politics
(Edward Elgar, 2022).
Routledge Advances in International Relations
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1958–1968
Edited by Pascal Lottaz and Yoko Iwama
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Political Species
The Evolution and Diversity of Private Organizations in Politics
Karsten Ronit
For information about the series: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Advances-in-International-

Relations-and-Global-Politics/book-series/IRGP
Political Species
The Evolution and Diversity of Private
Organizations in Politics
Karsten Ronit
First published 2024
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2024 Karsten Ronit.
The right of Karsten Ronit to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
ISBN: 978-1-032-08017-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-08019-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-21254-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003212546
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of illustrations vii

Preface viii
List of abbreviations x
1 Introduction—setting the scene 1

Micro, macro, and meso approaches 2
Species in biology 7
The challenges of translation 10
The diversity of political species 12
Overview of chapters 15
2 Evolution—analyzing gradual changes 20

Biological perspectives 21
Reflections and translations 26
Applications 31
Conclusion 38
3 Ecology—accounting for wholes 40

Applications 51
Conclusion 58
4 Biogeography—studying large spaces 61

Applications 73
Conclusion 79
vi Contents
5 Niche—exploring small spaces 82

Applications 93
Conclusion 99
6 Competition—researching multiple interactions 102

Applications 113
Conclusion 120
7 Adaptation—examining vital adjustments 123

Applications 135
Conclusion 141
8 Taxonomy—organizing evolutionary diversity 144

Applications 156
Conclusion 163
9 Conclusion—combining conceptual insights 165

Analogies revisited 166
Toward a unified approach 167
Time, space, and species count 169
The individual concepts and their distinct contributions 171
The diversity of roots in market and civil society 173
Challenges ahead 176
Bibliography 178
Index 201
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Species, time, and space 16
2.1 The horseshoe crab—unusual stability over evolutionary time 23
2.2 Time and level in the evolution of political species 30
3.1 Water on a leaf—a fundamental abiotic factor in the life of species 45
3.2 Political species in an ecological perspective 50
4.1 Biogeographic regions on a single continent 63
4.2 Biogeography: translations to geographic spaces and political
species 72
5.1 Different bird species—different niches 84
6.1 One form of competition—direct competition among common
red deer 105
7.1 Mimicry: the case of Pachythelia Villosella 127
7.2 Adaptation: general and specific adaptation forms 134
8.1 Darwin’s tree of life—the first version 149
8.2 A taxonomic sketch of private organizations as political species 155
Tables
5.1 Niche: small spaces and political species 92
6.1 Competition—and cooperation: interactions and political species 113
Preface
This book has both a long and a short history. First to the long history. For many
years, I have held a strong interest in the role of private organizations in political
life. I have noticed repeatedly, however, that research tends to be very compart-
mentalized. There are specialized communities for the different categories of
organizations in this book labeled political species, and few attempts have been
made to bring them together in an integrated analysis to investigate their simi-
larities and differences. Likewise, the focus on contemporary actors and activi-
ties is dominant in research. Private organizations, however, have interesting
roots, showing that they have evolved over time and that they are evolutionar-
ily connected. Without this perspective, it is very difficult to reach a profound
understanding of private organizations.
Research on private organizations is clearly in need of inspiration to recog-
nize their diversity and evolution. A promising source of inspiration is avail-
able in biology, but we must be careful when transferring such ideas. Many
years ago, I noticed the scholarly interest in such endeavors, but it was not until
around 15 years ago that I began to take a closer look at this literature. On closer
inspection, however, this literature has several deficiencies, and one of the major
shortcomings is that scholars today do not really consult the original biological
tradition and use only a few of the many available concepts to study the evolu-
tion and diversity of private organizations as political species. To use this rich
pool of knowledge, I realized that it was necessary to access the biological tradi-
tion, especially evolutionary biology, and accordingly, I have spent many years
on this project, seeking relevant concepts and contemplating their transfer to the
realm of private organizations in politics.
This was the long history. Now to the short history. After a contract was signed
with the publisher in spring 2021, concrete work on this book began in late 2021,
right after I had submitted another book manuscript (The Governance of Global
Industry Associations: The Role of Micro-Politics) to Edward Elgar, and I had
the first draft ready around one year later. This version has since been subject to
several revisions, both concerning the overall organization of the book and the
many details of the arguments in the individual chapters. Over the years, I have
Preface ix
benefited from conversations with numerous colleagues and co-workers, espe-

cially in the social and political sciences, but also from exchanges with many
biologists and naturalists, who have helped me form opinions about the role of
private organizations in politics and how “strange” ideas from biology can be
applied.
In the final stages of the work, funding and support from the San Cataldo Insti-
tution and from the JP Fond have further enabled me to concentrate on the manu-
script during research trips to Italy and Germany. I will also use the opportunity
to thank people and sources who have made some of the images available for
this book. The image used for Chapter 5 comes from B. Cornell (2016) and can
be found at the “BioNinja website,” accessed on 29 April 2023. Special thanks
also go to ©The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (Chapter 2), to
nature photographer Lars Krabbe (Chapter 6), and to lepidopterist Morten Top-
Jensen (Chapter 7) for permission to use their photos. I am grateful for insightful
and valuable comments from two anonymous reviewers, and I would finally like
to express my thanks to the publisher and its staff, including Natalja Mortensen,
Charlie Baker, and Charlotte Christie, for advice and encouragement.
Karsten Ronit
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg
August 2023
Abbreviations
AFEI Australian Federation of Employers and Industries

AI Amnesty International
AIIA Australian Institute of International Affairs
AMA Australian Medical Association
ATA Atlantic Treaty Association
BIAC Business at OECD/Business and Industry Advisory Committee to
the OECD
CFDT Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (French
Democratic Confederation of Labour)
CFR Council of Foreign Relations
CFTC Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens (French
Confederation of Christian Workers)
CGT Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of
Labour)
CI Consumers International
CIIA Canadian Institute of International Affairs
CIOMS Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community
EEC European Economic Community
EU European Union
FO Confédération Générale du Travail—Force Ouvrière (General
Confederation of Labor)
GSC Global Solar Council
ICC International Chamber of Commerce
ICIJ International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross
IDU International Democrat Union
INGO International Non-Governmental Organization
IOE International Organization of Employers
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
Abbreviations xi
Keidanren Japan Business Federation

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
OSF Open Society Foundations
PJ Partido Justicialista Nacional de la República Argentina.
RCOA Refugee Council of Australia
RS Refugee Support
SBS Special Broadcasting Service
SI Socialist International
SUD Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
US United States
VR/AR Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Association
WEF World Economic Forum
WHO World Health Organization
WKO Die Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (Austrian Economic
Chambers)
WMA World Medical Association
1 Introduction—setting the scene
To advance the study of private organizations in politics, it would seem most

obvious to consult the pertinent literature within the social and political sci-
ences, which offers interesting sources of guidance. However, many important
and unexploited insights can actually be gleaned from outside these scholarly
traditions, and such fresh insights can invigorate research. This book argues that
the discipline of biology, especially evolutionary biology, including fields such
as evolutionary ecology, offers fertile ground for inspiration. In many ways, this
tradition can assist us in analyzing the evolution and diversity of private actors
in politics.
Private organizations such as political parties, associations, movements, pro-
fessional societies, political clubs, think tanks, and foundations are examples of
organizations that tend to be structured in a collective framework or otherwise
rely on various kinds of coordination among members, supporters, and donors,
and they can all play important roles in the organization and representation of
various group interests in society. Also other entities, such as public affairs
agencies and law, accounting, and consulting firms, that either provide various
services to these organizations or play an independent role in politics without
relying on collective decision-making per se, must be included, and to that end,
a number of biological concepts, are helpful.
In the scholarly community, these different actors are not equally attended to
and recognized, and it can be difficult to understand the multiple functions they
serve. They are further given many names, with the conceptual language often
varying significantly across disciplines, across countries, and across historical
time. This fragmentation suggests that it can be theoretically complicated and
empirically challenging to accommodate such actors in an integrated analysis,
but this is needed if we want to reach a better understanding of this diverse
category, here treated under the generic term “private organizations.” Essen-
tially, these actors are all rooted in the organization of markets and of civil socie-
ties, and many of them are intimately connected, while others are only distantly
related.
DOI: 10.4324/9781003212546-1
Evolutionary biology, which emphasizes the common origin of species, their

diverse paths, and their complex relations, offers a promising perspective for
analyzing such private actors. Evolutionary biology teaches us that over time,
varieties of species emerge, specialize, and adapt to the ever-changing condi-
tions in their environment, leading, in some cases, to new full species. Much
change also characterizes the processes of political evolution. Actors emerge
or perish, and in this process, they alter the existing community population of
private organizations that in one way or another are engaged in politics. Thus,
species in nature have many parallels with the various private organizations in
domestic and global politics.
Different evolutionary ideas from biology have already been applied in the
social and political sciences, and in the next section of this chapter, we discuss
some of these major applications and explain how the approach taken in this book
differs from existing perspectives. We further clarify what the general species con-
cept implies in a biological context and discuss how it can be translated to our par-
ticular purpose, which is by no means an easy exercise, and a number of caveats
are consequently needed to avoid absurdities. We then turn toward the broad and
diverse body of private organizations that are the foci of this study, and we seek to
characterize them and define their role, but this general sketch will be followed up
in individual chapters with more concrete examples related to each of the different
concepts. Admittedly, some contributions in the social and political sciences have
tried to grapple with these actors by seeking inspiration from biology, but only
some actors have been addressed, and only certain ideas from biology have been
picked up. Indeed, it is clear that there is a huge and unexploited potential for evo-
lutionary thinking. The chapter finishes with an overview of the book, where the
key concepts forming the basis of each of the chapters will be presented.
Micro, macro, and meso approaches

Before turning to approaches developed at different levels of investigation, it
is important to recognize a basic line of conflict. Indeed, some versions and
interpretations of evolutionary theory have been highly controversial and have
often been associated with so-called social Darwinism. In these debates, some
scholars have historically used the authority of Charles Darwin to highlight the
“survival of the fittest” and legitimize certain social orders, or at least they have
been seen by critics as mechanically using certain natural laws to explain human
societies and thus replacing scientific inquiry with political dogma. Many prob-
lems have definitely complicated these debates and inquiries. Concepts such
as “survival,” “selection,” and “fitness” can have different meanings, and there
are many aspects related to the conditions of species in nature (Darwin 1859;
Schmalhausen 1946; Mayr 1982: 477–534; Kauffman 1993; Haffer 2006)1 not
to mention the difficulties of using these notions to understand human societies.
These huge debates have important historical roots, with important advances in
Introduction—setting the scene 3
the late nineteenth century (Mayr 1982: 112–132; Gould 2002: 93–169; Bowler
2003), but although these issues are today addressed in more sophisticated ways,
they nevertheless have conflict potential.
A side effect of this debate is no doubt some hesitance on the side of social
and political scientists to look for inspiration in biology, and perhaps even a fear
of falling into an ideological trap. However, the book has been closed too early.
Rejections are often too unspecific and premature and do not consider the many
nuanced discussions and prospective applications. There is a risk that general
criticism may block further dialogue around big issues as well as specific con-
cepts, impeding a constructive evaluation of potentials and pitfalls.
In spite of various reservations, we do in fact find a number of interesting con-
tributions in the social and political sciences, and to put this study into context, it
is necessary to relate it to existing traditions that wrestle with evolutionary prob-
lems and have tried to translate this thinking. Scholars familiar with or actively
involved in some of these traditions will perhaps expect that the present analysis
will, or even should, enroll in the further development of these traditions. This is
not the ambition, however. As we shall see, the major existing approaches tend
to raise other kinds of questions and to nest analyses at other levels of inquiry
than intended here.
These approaches are visible and have evolved in two related ways: Biologists
have extended the scope of their research to embrace problems outside nature,
and social and political scientists have drawn on ideas beyond their established
fields; but these groups of scholars are not equally active, and contributions have
primarily come from the latter group of researchers.2 To explain this in further
detail, we may distinguish between micro, macro, and meso approaches, and this
clarification of analytical levels of investigation helps us explain what this book
is about and what it is not about.
First, some studies apply elements of evolutionary theory to the social and
political world and are focused on various micro phenomena. In these cases,
the analytical unit is the behavior of the human species, and in many ways, it is
quite straightforward to transfer ideas from biology, where the human species is
also a key unit of analysis. Because the concept of species embraces all living
organisms, a specific effort, however, must be made to define human behavior
in particular and relate it to politics. This micro-oriented literature is difficult to
categorize, but we find some major patterns in the emphasis on either the genetic
dimension or the social dimension.
Some contributions posit that genetic properties are key to understanding
behavior. They may drive selfish or altruistic behavior with the effect that such
innate traits of species influence social evolution and in a wider perspective have
implications for politics. This tradition is often labeled “sociobiology” (Wilson
1975; Hatemi and McDermott 2011) and is especially related to genetics and to
varying degrees also to neurology as biological subdisciplines (Alford, Funk, and
Hibbing 2005), but contributions may use different terminology to characterize
human behavior. This research is primarily interested in the structuring of differ-

ent forms of behavior, and although evolution is an overall theme, certain issues,
such as the differentiation and emergence of new species, are not considered. In
a number of cases, cooperation has developed between biologists and political
scientists, and the study of genetic and social aspects can be combined (Axelrod
and Hamilton 1981). Emphasis may be shifted toward behavior under the impact
of environmental factors.
Other studies, therefore, tend to analyze the evolution of cooperation as a
social and interactive process, and, although the role of genetics is not forgotten,
greater weight is attributed to environmental factors in the shaping of “social spe-
cies” (Lewontin, Rose, and Kamin 1984). In these perspectives, other-regarding
behavior is not the result of pure self-interest but driven by the essential social
capacities of humans. Through reiterated games (Axelrod 1984), people learn
and adapt, but through history, humans have also been endowed with the capac-
ity to engage in reciprocal cooperation (Bowles and Gintis 2011). The under-
standing of human behavior is not necessarily framed in terms of games, and we
also find contributions to human behavior that are more actively linked to the
evolution of culture (Waring and Wood 2021), a point we will return to shortly.
Indeed, scholars concerned with genetic aspects also seek to embrace the pro-
liferation of beliefs, habits, and norms, which mirror or correct human behavior
and are important in the evolution of cultures (Dawkins 2006).
Studies following a micro approach highlight the genetic and social dimen-
sions of the human species but draw on experiences beyond biology. They fur-
ther build on input from economics and psychology, where there is an equal
emphasis on individual behavior and also on various cross-overs between eco-
nomics, psychology, political science, and sociology, without each of these
necessarily being informed by evolutionary biology and its various concepts.
These disciplines can all be helpful in developing the micro approaches briefly
sketched here, but they also offer inspiration for and can to varying degrees link
up with macro approaches.
Second, some analyses are concerned with a range of macro phenomena and
apply evolutionary concepts from biology to such studies or use evolutionary
thinking in a broader sense. This suggests that the unit of analysis also takes the
form of states, nations, societies, cultures, empires, and civilizations, which all
manifest highly aggregated human behavior and therefore deserve correspond-
ing analytical strategies (Mesoudi 2011; Lindenfors, Jansson, and Sandberg
2011; Morris 2013; Somit and Peterson 2003).
To varying degrees, individual human behavior and the various systems in
which it is embedded are considered in such works (Boyd and Richerson 1985;
Gintis, Van Schaik, and Boehm 2015) and testify to the overlap between micro
and macro approaches. The larger cultural, societal, and political contexts can be
seen as a driving force and can be studied in their own right to understand both
historical and contemporary contexts.
Eventually, the performance of these different macro entities will, somewhat

akin to species in evolution,3 lead to their survival or extinction—and adaptation
of some kind (Vanberg and Kerber 1994). History is rich with examples, and
there are recurring questions as to whether some systems are more advanced than
others and whether they are inclined to follow specific historical trajectories.
We often have to do with changes on a grand scale, such as economic, social, or
demographic transformations (Turchin 2018), and the literature not only reports
change but also seeks to formulate predictions. Studies guided by different macro
perspectives are especially found in disciplines for branches of history, econom-
ics, anthropology, and political science, and this kind of work tends to have an
interdisciplinary character and grapples with broader issues of humankind.
In a similar vein, research on the evolution of institutions examines how soci-
eties, or certain policy fields, issues, or bodies, are regulated through complex
rules and norms (Thelen 1999), typically devised by various public authorities
or adopted through negotiated compromise involving different actors in soci-
ety. These themes may sound familiar and belong to the many standard topics
in the social and political sciences, and institutions may be scrutinized using
ideas from evolutionary thinking (Currie, Campenni, Flitton et al. 2021), but
there is considerable variation as to whether concepts from biology are actively
employed to examine institutional developments. In the tradition of “historical
institutionalism,” studies have, with a few exceptions (Lewis and Steinmo 2010;
Streeck 2018), not explicitly drawn on evolutionary theory as formulated in biol-
ogy, although this is an obvious source of knowledge. In fact, the feature of
evolutionary perspectives does not necessarily imply an explicit translation and
application of biological concepts. Interesting contributions have, however, laid
out a framework for “evolutionary institutionalism” (Lempp and Patzelt 2007:
375–414; Fürstenberg 2016), which is related to but different from “historical
institutionalism,” and thus there is a good potential for studying institutions from
an evolutionary perspective.
So far, we have dealt with the micro and macro approaches and briefly shown
how ideas in evolutionary biology are transferred to study particular analytical
levels. To a different extent, this thinking has been applied to branches of eco-
nomics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, history, and political
science. In addition to these micro and macro levels of investigation, we suggest
a further approach that, in some ways, is related to these ambitions and traditions
but also has an independent status.
Third, this study centers on a different level of phenomena and thus applies
a meso approach. By focusing on the many and diverse private organizations in
political life, this book analyzes the emergence, proliferation, and differentia-
tion of private political actors that are based on various kinds of collective or
otherwise coordinated forms of action. In other words, the analysis is anchored
above the micro level of humans but below the macro level of political systems,
societies, cultures, and civilizations.
By adopting such an intermediate approach, the current study focuses on the

evolution of a diversity of private organizations whose pathways, properties,
and relations are not fully understood. Only a relatively small branch of research
has in some way taken inspiration from evolutionary biology to analyze various
kinds of organizations. In organization and management theory, attempts have
been made to advance research in many directions and examine different aspects
of organizational activity, including classifying organizations (McKelvey 1982),
analyzing populations (Hannan and Freeman 1977), mapping resources (Pfef-
fer and Salancik 1978), investigating changes (Baum and Amburgey 2017), and
understanding environments (Aldrich and Ruef 2006). Such contributions have
drawn attention in certain areas of the social and political sciences and have also
been applied to study various interest groups (Gray and Lowery 1996b; Lowery,
Halpin, and Gray 2015). In relevant places, parts of this research will be consid-
ered in the individual chapters.
Although these studies and theories bring many interesting insights, they suf-
fer from certain weaknesses in the context of this particular project. First, the
overwhelming majority of this research is not targeted at private organizations
in politics but grapples theoretically with organizations in a very wide sense.
Second, this tradition is empirically strong in the analyses of firms active in
markets, but problems related to these specific actors also tend to define general
theories. Third, in the case where the role of private organizations in politics
is actually reviewed, only some groups of organizations and activities receive
attention. Fourth, studies of these groups of private organizations tend to be
occupied with this particular group, while relations with other kinds of organi-
zations are weakly marked. Fifth, organization theory with an original inspira-
tion in evolutionary biology seems to have developed its own traditions and to
a modest degree accesses contributions from evolutionary biology. Sixth, only
selected concepts in evolutionary biology are considered and applied, but a host
of concepts are actually available to describe and analyze private organizations.
Organization and management theories are seemingly more palatable for
social and political scientists in their search for approaches to organizational
evolution, but such theories inadequately reflect and translate the biological tra-
dition. Given these limitations, a new and systematic effort is needed to take
advantage of a wider set of ideas from evolutionary biology in the study of
private organizations. Accordingly, we need to consult this literature directly,
extract major ideas, and translate them to our concrete purpose.
The private entities to which we refer build on very different kinds of action.
Some organizations rely on advanced forms of cooperation, an enduring feature
of formal organizations with complex decision-making structures and diverse
relations to actors in their environment, while others act as corporations spe-
cialized in politics but also with solid organizations behind them. Multiple
species that in one way or another are involved in political life will therefore
be embraced, but the role of firms poses a specific challenge and should be
briefly addressed. It can be argued that in different market economies, firms

make independent decisions and therefore represent a kind of authority that also
has political implications, and, in fact, some firms dispose of considerable eco-
nomic resources (Lindblom 1977; Fuchs 2007; Mikler 2018). These are valid
arguments. However, the majority of firms are not established with a clear and
unequivocal ambition to influence policies and the political order. Hence, we
shall include corporations that have such purposes, which, of course, can be
expressed in multiple ways. Making such distinctions is complicated because
boundaries are not distinct but fluid and fluctuating.
Indeed, changes play an important role, and like many other organizations,
private organizations have become rather solid entities. Indeed, “just as the for-
ests and fields of the physical environment are being replaced be streets and
skyscrapers, the primordial institutions around which societies have developed
are being replaced by purposively constructed social organizations” (Coleman
1990: xv). Although the growth and renewal of this diversity of formal organiza-
tions is significant, the activity of such organizations goes far back in time, and
in many respects, it is possible to trace the roots of current organizations back to
earlier kinds of organizations.
These different intermediary actors are in multiple ways related to the macro
level above and the micro level below. This implies that individuals are both
affected by and contribute to economic, social, and political evolution through a
range of formal organizations, and, in turn, that societies, cultures, and politics
both influence and build upon values and norms transmitted via these formal
organizations. However, the evolution of private organizations raises a number
of specific questions that deserve independent scrutiny, and this is the key task
of this study. Therefore, this book complements rather than competes with the
various macro and micro approaches.
Evolution is accomplished at different levels, and the ambition is neither to
endorse nor to reject research guided by these other approaches but to include
and qualify an additional layer. With this focus, the book contributes to a broader
analysis of the value of biological concepts for the social and political sciences.
Admittedly, research nested at the meso level, and actively applying evolution-
ary perspectives from biology, is much weaker developed than studies focused
on the other levels; hence, a special effort is required to advance this approach.
Before we can concentrate on private organizations, however, the first step is to
briefly address the species concept in biology and discuss how it can be trans-
lated to private actors as political species, a research area beyond biology.
Species in biology
While the species concept may sound rather alien to the social and political sci-
ences, the concept is central to biology. There is a rich discussion on its proper
definition and application to nature, and this scholarly debate goes centuries
back (Haffer 2006). However, much of the discussion in biology is internal to

the discipline and, in many cases, has little or no relevance to other scientific dis-
ciplines. New advances within biology can be methodologically and technically
sophisticated, but they will not necessarily bring greater changes in the basics of
evolutionary theory, and they may also be so specific that they will be problem-
atic to transfer. Therefore, the task is to sketch the major principles guiding the
study of species, as defined in biology, and show how this thinking, with care,
can be translated to examine political species. Of course, the full job cannot be
done in the introduction, and different aspects of the complex species concept
will be considered in the individual chapters.
In terms of species, biologists will instantaneously associate species and the
species concept with all kinds of living organisms, and there will be an under-
standable hesitance toward using experiences beyond these traditional fields.
When social and political scientists with an interest in political species consult
evolutionary biology, however, they discover a number of exciting opportuni-
ties. Delimiting species is at the very core of biological science, and it is a com-
plex exercise. Indeed, “the difficulties encountered are a strong indication not
only of the great diversity of population phenomena and of types of species
found in nature, but, alas, also of much muddled thinking. It is evident that the
word “species” has meant and still means different things to different people”
(Mayr 1963: 15). This characterization is still valid today, although advances
have been made in various directions.
Before we go into a discussion of the concept and which criteria organizations
must fulfill to gain species status, we can say a few words about the place of a
species in the living world. A species is considered a component of all living
beings, and therefore an individual species belongs to a hierarchically lower
rank (taxon) than the more encompassing ranks (taxa) above it, such as “genera”
and “family,” and even more inclusive ranks that bring together increasingly
diverse groups of species. A species, therefore, has some unique properties that
separate it from other more- or less-related species.
Notwithstanding various disagreements, uncertainties, and priorities, the bio-
logical species concept emphasizes that individual organisms belonging to the
same species can produce fertile offspring and, hence, continue evolutionary
lineages, which are essential to survival as species. This definition has also been
discussed, and it can be argued that there are some, often minor, exceptions
to this general characterization that are valid for most species. The validity of
the concept is also discussed in relation to such issues as asexual reproduction,
dealt with under the concept of parthenogenesis, in relation to self-pollination
in plants and in relation to hybridization (Wheeler and Meier 2000; Abbott,
Ritchie, and Hollingsworth 2008).
Successful reproduction in nature, however, is not the only criteria in the defi-
nition of biological species. It is further a key feature that organisms share essen-
tial parts of the genetic material, that they have basic morphological properties
in common, that their physiology reveals how their body parts work in similar
ways, and that they occupy equivalent spaces in nature. The genetic background
gives us knowledge about the pool of traits that species are shaped by thorough
ancestry, provides them with many fundamental characters, and distinguishes
them from other kinds of species. The morphological dimension can give us
knowledge about their basic structures, which are further related to the coordina-
tion of how their bodies work in their overall physiology. Finally, adaptations to
different environments are crucial for species, as these offer variable conditions
in their search for resources in competition and cooperation with other species.
Together, such basic genetic, morphological, physiological, and environmental
factors help us differentiate between species.
To some degree, the emphasis on these different criteria is related to the spe-
cialization in biological science. There are many different subdisciplines, each
with its own subject matter, key concepts, and elaborated theories. In addition,
they are characterized by specific disciplinary developments, which implies
that advances in the definition of species are uneven. Thus, geneticists tend to
concentrate on the cell and molecular levels and apply methods other than, for
instance, ecologists, who operate at more aggregated analytical levels, such as
communities and ecosystems, which provide different sets of information on
species.
For an external observer, biology may appear rather monolithic, and com-
pared to the social and political sciences, we can count on a higher degree of
consensus, but a closer look at this research also exposes a number of concep-
tual differences. Indeed, even within the different subdisciplines, there can be
various scholarly opinions, but knowledge can also be contradictory and pre-
vent drawing firm conclusions. This reflects the complexity of the discipline and
complicates the integration of experiences from different subdisciplines into a
unified definition of species.
For the purpose of our study, the criteria in the definition of species are all
highly interesting and can serve as important inspirations, but some are easier to
embrace and translate than others. These are intimately related, hard to separate,
and have given rise to many historical and contemporary debates. A general les-
son is that species are endowed with a range of shared properties, such as ori-
gin, structure, function, and behavior, that define them and separate them from
other species along different gradients, and together these properties enable their
existence in nature.
A thorough evaluation of these criteria implies that we count in various
dynamics. In fact, the proper study of species involves not only current spe-
cies and their various roots but also the life of extinct species, as covered by
the discipline of paleontology and its key principles (Simpson 1944; Gould
2002: 745–796). A strong interest in the historical dimension is required, and
this is important to bear in mind when studying social and political phenomena,
although the time frame here is, of course, considerably shorter than in nature,
with a comparatively late formation of human societies not to speak of the rela-
tively recent arrival of private organizations in politics.
Another important dynamic is observable within species, which are not con-
stant entities. Within species, we may find interesting variation among organisms
that are exposed to different environments, and over time, smaller differences
may accumulate to the effect that new species emerge. Therefore, the definition
of species cannot be entirely settled through theoretical argument and clear-cut
definitions, and species must be empirically examined in nature, thus offering
complex material for classification and further theory building.
The challenges of translation

A careful reinterpretation and translation of ideas from evolutionary biology
is useful to examine many social and political phenomena, and we will gain
important guidance that is otherwise hard to obtain. Translation poses many
challenges, though. When we bring different disciplines into contact, the essen-
tial job is not to compare and develop both disciplines or, for that matter, reach
a better understanding of specific units of analysis within the biological and
political domains. The translation is unidirectional. We use concepts and ideas
from evolutionary biology to understand private organizations, but we do not
seek inspiration in the social and political sciences to study various animal or
plant communities as “political systems” with corresponding “political actors”
in the form of animals and plants—nor is there the ambition to make predictions
about private organizations on the basis of experiences from the natural world.
The performance of species in politics is complex, and biology can only provide
limited knowledge on their future existence and survival. Assisted by ideas and
concepts developed within evolutionary biology, we can, however, examine the
diversity of private organizations that historically have been engaged in politics
or are currently active.
The majority of scholars with a professional background in biology are not
concerned with transferring traditions to other areas and generally adhere to their
own subject field, wide or narrow, but the interest in such projects is stronger
with regard to the micro level than to the macro level sketched above. There
seems to be a greater ambition in the social and political sciences, or at least
in some segments, to tap into perspectives offered in biology. Although some
scholars are concerned with the translation of such ideas, they do not take a
strong interest in translating the species concept per se, and species is, without
further ado, equated with humans and thus different from our endeavor that sees
private organizations as political species.
Obviously, the unit of analysis, the different private organizations in political
life, is not in any way similar to species examined in zoology and botany. Using
an analogy to study private organizations as political species, we acknowledge
that the transfer from biology to politics poses some key methodological prob-
lems (Patzelt 2017). In terms of analogy, different but related questions can be
asked whether we want to study evolution beyond biology in broader terms, in
particular branches of the social and political sciences, or with regard to specific
kinds of actors (Peters 1980; McKelvey 1982; Prindle 2012; Van den Bergh
2018).
Given these conditions, a translation of ideas and concepts must be accom-
plished through a series of steps involving the path from biology to the social and
political sciences and the move from the social and political sciences to those
private organizations that become involved in political activity. These transla-
tions must pay attention to complex factors in each of the steps and, therefore,
address both general problems and tackle concrete empirical issues.
A wholesale application of ideas and concepts is neither feasible nor desir-
able; indeed, it would both neglect the unique work done in biology and ignore
the specific political context. Such a rigid exercise would do damage to the anal-
ysis of private organizations in politics, and we would be left with a caricature.
Therefore, we are not working with a full analogy but a partial analogy—not
only because the subject matters are different but also because not all the major
ideas and concepts lend themselves to translation. Some are invalid and must
be discarded, while others seem promising and demand further investigations,
and in the following, we will briefly discuss some basic limitations and options.
A major feature of living organisms is sexual reproduction, but various kinds
of breeding and mating are not relevant in our case. This notion is not really
possible to fruitfully develop, which is obviously an important reservation when
transferring basic thoughts from biology. Instead of focusing on biological
organisms, which could also involve humans, we take an interest in entities that
are not physical persons but are generally organized as legal persons, although
the formal character of private actors can vary significantly.
While the organizations have no genetic ancestry, they certainly have impor-
tant roots, and origin is one of the key dimensions that helps us classify pri-
vate organizations. Historical roots are important, and in many ways, ancestral
organizations pass on a variety of interests and values and assist in the creation
of ever-new private entities without these being genetically coded. These roots
are related to markets and civil society, which guide organizations, and this is
another tool that enables us to distinguish major kinds of actors. The lack of a
genetic dimension seems to have some consequences for the abundance of polit-
ical species. In nature, the genetic pool is significant, forming new generations,
but the various backgrounds of private organizations are shaped by other mecha-
nisms that affect variation and deserve attention. Compared to the diversity of
species in nature (Mayr 1982: 133–146; Wilson 2001: 33–46; Swingland 2013),4
the number of these actors tends to be very limited but still complex enough to
catalogue, as we will discuss in the following.
In addition to their origin, private organizations can be distinguished through

their different internal structures, their different resources and tasks, and their
multiple interactions with the environment. In all these basic respects, it is pos-
sible to seek insights from biology, and to guide us, we draw on a number of key
concepts from evolutionary biology. Some of them seem relatively familiar in
the social and political sciences, such as the concept of adaptation, while others,
such as the concept of biogeography, have rarely or never been addressed. And,
if they have actually been applied, they have not been discussed in relation to
the meso level and our specific unit of analysis but mainly or exclusively to the
micro or macro levels, such as the concept of evolution, which has mainly been
discussed in relation to human behavior or society. Even in cases where concepts
have been applied to the meso level, only certain aspects have received attention,
and the translation of ideas is fragmented. Therefore, a stronger and targeted uti-
lization of major interrelated concepts is required, and they will be elicited from
the pertinent biological literature, in each case demanding a careful translation.
In essence, species in nature and in politics display many important differ-
ences, and this proviso is important in order not to invalidate the transfer of ideas
from biology to the realm of politics. This said, it should be possible to follow
the broader biological approach, center on some key organizational dimensions,
and draw on the basic criteria in the definition of biological species outlined
earlier.
The diversity of political species

Until now, we have sketched how and under which conditions ideas from the
study of species in biology can be applied, and we have also provided some
examples of actors that are eligible and that do not qualify for inclusion in the
study of private organizations. We need, however, to further specify this diverse
group of political species and discuss some of the problems that complicate the
selection of organizations.
Private organizations encompass a rich diversity of actors; some relate to poli-
tics, and some are not engaged in this activity, and it is only the former group of
actors we are concerned with. In this study, private organizations with a perma-
nent or temporary ambition, either rather implicit or explicitly expressed, but in
certain cases concealed or even denied, are relevant to study as political species.
Accordingly, their capacity to become involved in politics in a domestic or inter-
national context varies. Politics must not be understood in a very narrow and
conventional sense, however. Accordingly, organizations rooted in market and
civil society influence public policy in a rich variety of ways by either opposing,
encouraging, or assisting initiatives or by creating their own ways of problem
solving to prevent, postpone, or replace policies adopted in a traditional politi-
cal framework, and, therefore, many activities unfold beyond formal political
institutions.
The organizations have a private origin and rely on different kinds of action.
Essentially, they are related to two major subsystems—namely the market and
civil society—and with this economic and social background, firms and citi-
zens find a variety of formats to organize and represent preferences in politi-
cal contexts. In other words, the market and civil society can be seen as pools
from which to draw various interests, but the whole pools are not necessarily
exploited, and not all areas of the pools are covered equally effectively, giving
rise to the emergence of organizations with different roots, structures, tasks, and
relations.
The specific organization and coordination of interests are influenced by fac-
tors in the institutional environment, and these will have a direct or indirect
impact on the formation and work of private organizations even if public insti-
tutions do not found or govern them in a strict sense. Thus, public institutions
can encourage the creation of organizations and support them in various ways,
but they can also influence the direction of concrete activities. They can further
cultivate relations with certain organizations, grant them special rights, and inte-
grate them into policymaking. In this process, private organizations may share
responsibility for elements of public policy, and, of course, there is the ultimate
risk that private organizations may lose their autonomy and be controlled by
government, but it can be difficult to determine when they pass such a threshold.
Nevertheless, such trajectories are important to keep in mind when studying the
evolution of private organizations.
By focusing on autonomous private organizations, we include experiences
from countries and contexts where private organizations, in principle, are today
free to establish and develop political activity. It is, however, hard to determine
such boundaries because the conditions facing these organizations vary across
institutional contexts and policy fields, and they are also changeable, but we
largely refer to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) countries, which, after all, display a number of commonalities with
regard to the role of private organizations. This does not suggest that evolu-
tionary approaches are inapplicable beyond this framework, but some addi-
tional premises need to be established, and further theoretical developments are
required for such analyses. With a particular concern for this group of countries,
from which selected cases will be drawn, we are likely to find a comparatively
high degree of diversity among private organizations, and this has some affinity
with the basic condition in nature where there is no single power to manage the
evolution of species. Nonetheless, this view on diversity does not imply that all
private organizations will have equal opportunities or equal influence on politics.
In brief, the study of private actors embraces a diversity of organizations.
Although political parties are integrated into the functions of governments and
parliaments, they are still private entities. The private status of actors is no doubt
easier to recognize in the case of the many associations and movements that seek
to organize a diversity of interests in society and, depending on their objectives
and activities, tend to be less connected with official state bodies. The private
character is perhaps also apparent in the case of many knowledge-based organi-
zations, such as think tanks and foundations, which engage in public discourse
but are furnished by private resources.
Organizations managed as corporations, such as consulting firms, may also
engage in political action as their primary purpose. They have the same tasks
as many other private organizations mentioned here, and, therefore, important
overlaps exist in their various missions, but they do not organize groups as such,
and, thus, private organizations involved in political activities are underpinned
by a variety of structures, a factor that complicates the definition of private
organizations.
The theoretical concepts employed to characterize them are equally diverse.
While political parties are unsurprisingly studied under the label of “political
parties” and in many ways form a specific subcategory of private organizations,
the concepts used to describe and analyze other actors are numerous, capturing
different features such as membership, funding, governance, or other properties.
This might lead us to believe that we have to deal with very different entities,
while in reality, different concepts are often used for the same kind of organiza-
tions, such as associations.
First, a factor that complicates the development of a unified conceptual lan-
guage is that organizations are approached from different theoretical angles and
disciplines. Thus, political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, law,
organization theory, and management science grapple to different extents with
the organization of private interest in politics, and in these scholarly communi-
ties, multiple concepts are to be found. Within each of these major disciplines,
we also find different conceptual traditions. A particular challenge is that schol-
ars specializing in comparative politics tend to use different concepts for private
organizations than researchers examining their role in international politics, and
aligning these can be difficult.
Second, the private organizations studied in this book are referred to in dif-
ferent ways in various geographic, cultural, and semantic contexts, and a major
reason for the conceptual variation is that they occupy different roles in politics
and that their positions are perceived differently. Therefore, it can be difficult to
arrive at universally accepted concepts, and if we do, there is a risk that experi-
ences and traditions in specific countries and cultures come to dominate such
concepts, and, hence, variations are not sufficiently accounted for. These are
challenges that have an impact on the viability and application of concepts, and
they can complicate the identification and classification of political species.
Third, throughout history, different kinds of organizations have expressed pri-
vate concerns in politics. In the past, they were given different labels by their
contemporaries, and also today, various concepts circulate. Some actors have
become extinct, while others have survived, maybe under new names, reflecting
new historical conditions and understandings of their role in politics. Further-

more, a variety of novel organizations have emerged, demanding their own
vocabulary. These experiences can be difficult to summarize, but if we neglect
historical organizations and practices, some of them still in existence, we fail to
recognize the evolutionary character of species in politics. In fact, there are both
important continuities and discontinuities in history that should be examined.
In sum, research on private actors in politics bears strong witness to the frag-
mentation in empirical focus and conceptual language. Scholars tend to concen-
trate on a single type of actor, for instance, political parties, examining how this
group of actors competes and cooperates, but tend to ignore other, related private
actors in their environment, thus missing many important aspects of their evo-
lution. In addition, the use of different concepts for the same or closely related
organizations prevents an exchange of experiences and inhibits a dialogue that
is otherwise needed to address problems of joint concern.
After all, the carving out and attribution of the same concepts are required to
define political species and systematically organize knowledge. This includes
both the recognition of similar properties and the identification of divergent
features among private organizations. In an evolutionary perspective, the large
and diverse community of private organizations has common roots, but, with
the passing of time, these organizations specialize and enter into new kinds of
relations with their environment through mutual adaptation. The goal is not to
describe and analyze all of these actors and their evolution in minute detail but
to highlight major categories of organizations active in contemporary politics.
Overview of chapters
We can now turn toward the specific concepts taken from evolutionary biology
and translated to politics, following the meso approach, especially to the diver-
sity of private organizations. Obviously, not all the literature on evolutionary
biology is applicable to political science, and not all concepts and principles are
relevant. Therefore, a critical reading of both classic and current works is essen-
tial to identifying significant ideas and concepts.
The main body of this book includes three interconnected themes that are
placed in a deliberate order. The first theme highlights the time dimension
(Chapter 2) because species in nature and in politics are tied to and must always
be understood in the context of time. The second major theme seeks to place spe-
cies in relation to the space dimension because they always emerge in and unfold
activity in relation to various kinds of space (Chapters 3, 4, and 5). Although the
role of species is of course integrated in the discussion on time and space, we
pay further attention to the species dimension (Chapters 6, 7, and 8), and species
are neither in nature nor in politics alone but interact with other species in their
environment. The complex interrelationships between private organizations as
political species, time, and space are shown in Figure 1.1, where different com-
binations of dimensions can also be examined.
This book builds on a number of key concepts that all have a prominent place
in evolutionary biology, providing new insights for this study. Each of these con-
cepts offers novel insights into the evolution of organizations, but taken together,
they yield an even stronger foundation for understanding the emergence, interac-
tion, and adaptation of private actors. The concepts are intimately related, and
some constructive overlaps are therefore both unavoidable and necessary to
demonstrate the theoretical benefits of evolutionary biology when translated to
a very different domain of science.
The individual chapters will each consist of three parts: first, a presentation
of the relevant concepts and some of the related sub-concepts as discussed in
biology; second, a discussion of how existing research has grappled with these
problems and how the particular concepts can be applied to private organiza-
tions; and third, some brief analyses of selected cases that cover different aspects
of the concepts. Some cases scrutinize a particular organization, while others are
concerned with a larger group of organizations, and although most concentrate
on contemporary problems, some historical experiences will also be addressed.
These smaller cases must primarily be seen as affirmative examples. This is
a deliberate choice because the application of evolutionary thinking, moving it
from one strand of research to another, has in many respects not been undertaken
before. At first glance, the applicability of such ideas to private organizations
may seem doubtful, and so it is in many ways more fascinating should these
illustrations document the relevance of this reasoning. Of course, they do not
deliver the final proof of the validity of biological ideas but rather provide prom-
ising evidence and encourage us to further qualify the cases.
Political Species:
Private Organizations
Space Time
Figure 1.1 Species, time, and space

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Fig. 11
The Swing is Made upon One Ski Instead of Using Both as in the
Christiania Swing
Closely akin to side-slipping is the Christiania swing with the stick,

which is accomplished by pressing with both heels at the same time,
while the stick digs well into the snow above. This variation of the
side slip is easily done, and the skier is turned sharply uphill to come
to a quick stop. When a sharp hill is met with, that is considered a bit
too steep to take straight, this swing with the stick may be made by
taking a zigzag course down grade steering clear of any obstacles
by snowplowing, stemming, or side-slipping; and turning the corners,
or “tacking,” by making use of the Christiania swing and the stick, as
shown in Fig. 10.
The “S”-turn may likewise be used for turning corners, without the
necessity for stopping to make the ordinary kick turn. A good way to
learn this useful movement is to run straight downhill in a snowplow
position, reduce the speed to a comfortable walking pace with the
stick, and stem with the ski. If this is done with the right ski, the “S”-
turn is made by throwing practically the whole weight of the body on
the right ski, at the heel, and pressing it outward while the stick is
carried ahead and below the skier. If the heels are kept well apart,
and the toes close together, the skier will have no trouble about
swinging around in a curve and be off on the other tack. About the
only difficulty in making the “S”-turn is the position of the body, which
must be thrown somewhat out and away from the hill. To the novice
this at first seems to invite a fall, but a few trials will soon prove that
the weight of the body must be thrown on the foot which circles on
the outside of the curve, hence the apparently unnatural position of
the body is essential for a good turn. By bringing the stick well
forward and downhill, the skier uses his staff as a pivot upon which
the turn is made.
The Christiania swing, made without the stick, is a favorite with
expert ski runners when running on rough and steep ground and is a
good way of stopping. The swing may be made both to the right and
left. To make it to the right, keep the skis close together, the right a
trifle in advance, with the weight of the body equally on both feet and
with knees slightly bent. Now throw the weight more forward and
upon the toes, while the heels are carried forward and outward to the
left. The body must lean to the right—the direction in which the swing
is made—and twisted somewhat at the waist; and the sharper the
turn, the more the body must lean sideways to keep the balance.
The swing to the left is made in the, same fashion, only the left ski
should be a trifle advanced and the body thrown to the left.
Fig. 12
To Make the Jump the Skier Assumes the Easy Position Required for
Coasting Downhill
The Telemark swing is more difficult to master than the Christiania

swing, because it is done on one foot, or ski, instead of using both,
and as it is less powerful than the latter, it is of far less use for
stopping. To make the Telemark swing to the right, assume the
regular position for downhill coasting, and, advancing the left foot,
turn the ski so that it rests on its edge as when making the
snowplow, throw the body to the right and lean in toward the slope to
keep the balance. To make the swing to the left, advance the right
foot, turn the body to the left and lean as before. This is shown in
Fig. 11. The Telemark turn is, in fact, made in the same manner as
stemming, and the sharpness of the swing rests altogether upon the
quickness with which the heel is thrown outward and the body turned
in the direction the skier desires to swing. The swing is made upon
one ski, and the key to the whole swing is the knack of raising the
heel of the other foot off its ski until it rests upon the toes. That this is
hard to do goes with the telling, and the novice should first acquire
the knack of balancing by running straight downhill with the weight
thrown on one foot. When this can be done, and not before then, the
skier is ready to practice the turn. The Telemark swing, like all other
turns, is easily acquired at slow and moderate speeds, and becomes
more and more difficult to make as the speed is increased and the
turn is made more sharply and quickly.
Jumping on skis is one of the most exhilarating winter sports, and
it is a pity that it is not more popular wherever a medium-heavy fall of
snow occurs. While touring on skis across a hilly country, there will
be many natural jumps to encounter, for drifts, stumps, rocks, and
other rises in the ground, when well covered and padded with snow,
make good jumping-off places. While but a few skiers may have
attempted such high leaps as the famous Holmenkollen,
Fiskertorpet, or Foldberg, all who have done much ski running have
done a little jumping, since, when running downhill, an unexpected
dip is often encountered, and a rise in the ground causes the skier to
leave the ground for a short distance and alight several feet below.
Doubtless the skier has enjoyed the flying-like sensation of this brief
moment, and very likely he has climbed the hill to repeat the jump.
Moreover, this has very likely demonstrated that the distance of the
jump depends upon the height of the dip, the speed of the skier
passing over it, and likewise upon the spring of the body on the take-
off. In making a jump of any height, the take-off may be level,
pointing up or even downhill, and constructed with framework
extending out from the hillside, or consist merely of a large boulder,
or a pile of logs, well padded with snow. The height of the slope
chosen will, of course, regulate the distance of the jump, and the
place where the jumper alights should be fairly steep, since, if the
skier lands upon a level place great difficulty will be experienced in
keeping the balance, therefore the usual jumping hill, where jumping
competitions are held, is provided with a 30°, or steeper, landing
place, and this merges gradually into the outrun, or slope,
connecting the hill with the level ground below.
Fig. 13
Each Member of the Party should be Provided with a Ruck Sack of Good
Capacity
For the safety of the skier, the snow should be firm but not icy or
hard, and this is easily done by packing the snow down well by
means of the skis. A good, thick padding of snow is of course
essential, and a thickness of 2 ft. is really needed at the landing
place and at the take-off. In our more northerly sections, plenty of
snow usually falls, but wherever a few sportsmen get together, it is
an easy matter to shovel sufficient snow to prepare a good and safe
jumping hill.
To gain confidence and acquire some useful experience in
jumping, the novice should practice leaping from a 2-ft. rise and
gradually increase the height of the take-off by piling more snow
upon it to increase its height. One or two packing cases firmly placed
upon a smooth, steep hillside, and well padded with 2 ft. of well-
trodden snow, will make a nice take-off. For the beginning the take-
off may point slightly downhill or be fashioned level, and as the skier
becomes more proficient, snow may be added to the edge so that
the take-off will send the jumper well up into the air.
The knack of jumping is nothing more than balancing the body
upon alighting, and the steeper the landing place the easier it is to
keep the balance. To make the jump in good form, the skier assumes
the easy position required for coasting downhill, as shown in Fig. 12.
When within a dozen yards of the take-off the body is lowered until
the skier is in a crouching position with the arms extending back as
in the act of jumping. Arriving within a couple of yards of the dip the
body and arms are thrown forward, which transfers the weight of the
body upon the toes, and the body is straightened up and the arms
are raised not unlike the wings of a bird, to keep the perfect balance
of the body. The straightening up of the body, known to skiers as “the
sats,” is the leap proper and must be timed so that the body
assumes an erect position when the jumper is not less than 12 ft.
from the edge of the take-off. The beginner will invariably jump too
late, but after a little practice, and profiting by numerous mistakes,
the take-off will be timed correctly. Alighting after a jump is best done
by advancing one ski a trifle to keep the balance, and bending the
knees a bit to lessen the impact. The jumper ends with the Telemark
or Christiania swing.
When taking tours of any length on skis, each member of the party
should be provided with a ruck sack of good capacity. That of the
expanding type, made with two outside pockets, and with gores at
the sides, is a good, sensible pack. It should be made of 8-oz.
waterproof khaki and fitted with shoulder straps of good width, to
prevent chafing the shoulders. Leather ruck sacks are sometimes
used, but are heavier in weight and more expensive but no better.
One member of the party should carry some kind of repairing outfit,
consisting of an awl, a length of leather thong, a few spare straps
and a stout cord, or string. These sacks are shown in Fig. 13.
Knife, Fork, and Spoon Holder
The Holder Keeps the Cutlery in a Position for Easy Selection and Grasping
The holder is made of a piece of sheet copper of sufficient

thickness to support the number of pieces of cutlery used. The piece
is notched to admit the different pieces, and its back edge is bent at
right angles to provide means of fastening it to a support, a wall or
the back of the kitchen cabinet. It will save space, as well as time,
since it is much easier to grasp one of the articles when wanted than
if they are kept in a drawer.—Contributed by L. E. Turner, New York
City.
Making Round Rods for Fish Poles
In looking forward to the enjoyment that may be had in the spring,
it is well to prepare and overhaul the fishing apparatus or the
shooting equipment. In doing so, it may be necessary to make a joint
for the fish rod or perhaps a rod for the gun. These can be easily cut
if they are sized and run through holes made in a piece of thin metal
as follows: Make several holes of the desired sizes in a steel plate,
and ream them out with a rather dull taper reamer, so as to leave a
bur on one side. This bur should be filed down almost level with the
surface of the metal, leaving the edges flat and sharp. If a rod of
wood from which the article is to be made is put in a hole and drawn
through from the opposite side to the bur, a nice round rod will result.
As the rod becomes smaller, use a smaller hole until the required
diameter is obtained. A saw plate that is not too thin is about the
proper thing to use for the steel plate. It will be necessary to draw the
temper to make the holes, but it is not necessary to retemper it after
the holes are made.
¶Celery keeps well in a small box of dry sand.

A Ski Sled
By GEORGE J. EGELBERG
T he sled is built low and wide so that it will not tip easily. The skis, or
runners, are cut 10 ft. long and 6 in. wide, from 1-in. ash boards
that are straight-grained. At the points where the curve is to be
formed, plane off about ¹⁄₄ in. on the upper side, but do not plane off
any at the very tip end. This will allow the skis to be more easily
bent. If it is not handy to steam the skis, put them in boiling water,
and be sure that at least 1¹⁄₂ ft. of the points are covered. Provide a
cover for the vessel, so that only very little steam may escape. Let
them boil for at least one hour. A good method of bending the points
is shown. When the skis are taken from the water, put them as
quickly as possible in the bending blocks, side by side, and bend
them with a slow, even pressure. Weight the extending ends and
leave the skis in the blocks 8 or 10 hours to dry. Sharpen the points
after they are bent.
The Runners are Shaped Like a Ski and are Joined Together with Knees for
the Top Board
The sled will run easier if the skis have a slight rocker curve. To
make this curve, have the center block 6 in. while the two end blocks
are 5¹⁄₂ in. high. A ¹⁄₄-in. flat-head bolt is run through the ski, the
block, and the cross strip. The holes are countersunk in the surface
for the heads of the bolts. The top is made of three 6-in. boards,
fastened to the crosspieces. It is a good plan to brace the tips of the
skis with a 2-in. strip.
Clocks for the Craftsman
An Ordinary Alarm Clock Mounted in a Wood Base Made in Elaborate

Designs to Resemble a Timepiece of High Value; yet Inexpensive to Make
Three designs of clocks are shown, which can be easily made in

oak, or other wood, that will match other furniture. The sizes of the
pieces required are given by the dimensions in the drawings.
The clock is a matter of choice. Prices in most stores range from
75 cents up and the works are of the ordinary alarm-clock variety.
After selecting the clock the small legs as well as the back plate are
removed. The hole cut in the wood for the clock must be a snug fit,
and after placing it in position, the back plate is replaced.
The finish may be a wax or gloss, as desired, and directions for
applying it will be found on the can containing the material.
A Compact Galvanometer
A small portable galvanometer is one of the most useful
instruments to the electrical experimenter. There are continually
arising instances where it is necessary to test through and identify
certain wires, for which purpose a small galvanometer and a dry cell
are quite sufficient. For comparing the resistances by the well-known
Wheatstone-bridge method, a galvanometer is, of course,
indispensable. If the winding is made suitable, or by placing a shunt
across the terminals to reduce the deflection, a small galvanometer
will roughly indicate the current passing and thus enable one to
compare his dry cells and eliminate the weak ones. Rough voltage
comparisons may also be made by placing a resistance in series
with the galvanometer.
For constructing this instrument, a good pocket compass, of about
2-in. diameter, must be procured. Prepare a neat little box with the
four edges accurately beveled off. On the under side of this, carefully
cut a channel, about ¹⁄₂ in. wide and 2¹⁄₂ in. long, to a depth that will
bring the bottom of the slot within ¹⁄₈ in. of the top of the base block.
Place two binding posts on the base, as indicated, and secure the
compass in place with cement, or by two very small nails put through
the bottom. If the glass cannot be removed, it will be necessary to
solder the nail heads to the bottom of the compass box, after having
carefully removed the lacquer.
The correct wiring will depend on the strength of the current
handled. It is, however, very easy to get an idea of what the
deflection will be under certain conditions by merely making a
preliminary trial, after winding a few turns of any magnet or bell wire
at hand around a small piece of wood, and slipping the coil so
formed into the slot on the under side of the base block. The winding
may be from two or three turns of heavy wire up to several hundred
turns of fine magnet wire, but after one or two trials, the maker will
have no trouble in determining his particular requirements.
Galvanometer Made of a Compass Set on a Wood Base, with Coil and Wire
Connections
The final coil should be wound lengthwise on a wood core, and the
whole packed neatly into the slot. Connect up the ends to the binding
posts, and then glue in a thin piece to hold the coil in place.
By drilling a small horizontal hole through the base, as indicated
by the two dotted lines in the top view of the working drawings, and
inserting a small bar magnet, ¹⁄₈ in. in diameter, or less, the
instrument may be rendered independent of the earth’s magnetism
and used without reference to the north point. Such a controlling
magnet reduces the time required to bring the needle to rest after it
has been violently reflected.
¶Woodwork about a house, when primed with white lead made quite
thin in raw linseed oil, will never blister unless moisture gets back of
it. Yellow-ocher priming will cause blistering at any time up to 20
years.
A Perpetual Calendar
It is Only Necessary to Change the Sliding Pieces to Set the Calendar for
Each Month
It is only necessary to set this calendar the first of each month, by

sliding the insertions up or down, to get the proper month or week.
The calendar, as it is shown, is set for January, 1916. Saturday is the
first day and Friday the seventh, and so on. It is not confusing and
can be read either by the day or date. If the day is known it will show
the date, and if the date is known it will show the day. The illustration
clearly shows the parts, which can be cut from heavy paper or
cardboard.
Heater for the Experimenter
A convenient small heater for heating liquids in experimental work,
and even in making a hot drink where there is no gas, can be readily
made from an ordinary oil lamp and a small round can, having a
crimped-on head or bottom. The can should be of such diameter that
the prongs of the lamp burner will hold it firmly in place. A hole
should be made in the bottom of the can. It is then placed, upside
down, on the lamp burner. If the top comes too far from the flame,
cut off a strip around the edge.—Contributed by Clarence S. H.
Anderson, Worcester, Massachusetts.
A Camp Chair Constitutes the Body of the Sled and the Legs are Equipped
with Runners
A Folding Ice Sled

On a smooth ice surface, or on hard snow, the sled shown will run
easily, and a skater can push another with surprising speed by a light
push on the shoulders while the rider rests his feet on the front of the
runners. The sled is light, and it can be folded up and carried under
the arm. It is also handy for putting on the skates, or for use in a
crowded car.
Any camp stool will do for the main part of the sled. Holes are
bored in the ends of the legs to receive the lugs on the runners
snugly. If the builder is not equipped with a forge, a blacksmith will
make the runners cheaply. The sliding surfaces of the runners are
smoothed with a file.—Contributed by Thomas Lappin, Portland,
Ore.
¶A column of water 27.6 in. will have a pressure of 1 lb. per square
inch.
Cleaning Tinware with Milk
Some housewives advise a system of dry-cleaning for tinware for
the reason that it insures a surface free from rust which is less liable
to burn. Where washing is preferred, however, a little milk added to
the water proves more satisfactory than either soap or soda, its
peculiarly solvent effect upon grease obviating all necessity for hard
scouring, which latter will wear the tin coating and gradually cause
the article to become useless for holding food and more apt to rust
into holes.—Contributed by J. E. Pouliot, Ottawa, Can.

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Political Species: The Evolution and

Diversity of Private Organizations in

Principles of Evolution Systems Species and the History

Resistance Power and Conceptions of Political Order in

Diversity in Decline?: The Rise of the Political Right

Organizing Democracy: Reflections on the Rise of

Private Politics and Peasant Mobilization: Mining in

The Political Psychology of Women in U S Politics 1st

The new politics of class in Britain. The political

In Political Species, Karsten Ronit expertly argues that evolutionary biology

Karsten Ronit is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science

Australia’s Pursuit of an Independent Foreign Policy under the Whitlam

Gender Inequality & Women’s Citizenship

Strategic Culture(s) in Latin America

Brazilian Agricultural Diplomacy in the 21st Century

Neutral Europe and the Creation of the Nonproliferation Regime

Australian Politics at a Crossroads

For information about the series: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Advances-in-International-

List of illustrations vii

1 Introduction—setting the scene 1

2 Evolution—analyzing gradual changes 20

3 Ecology—accounting for wholes 40

4 Biogeography—studying large spaces 61

5 Niche—exploring small spaces 82

6 Competition—researching multiple interactions 102

7 Adaptation—examining vital adjustments 123

8 Taxonomy—organizing evolutionary diversity 144

9 Conclusion—combining conceptual insights 165

benefited from conversations with numerous colleagues and co-workers, espe-

AFEI Australian Federation of Employers and Industries

Keidanren Japan Business Federation

To advance the study of private organizations in politics, it would seem most

Evolutionary biology, which emphasizes the common origin of species, their

Micro, macro, and meso approaches

human behavior. This research is primarily interested in the structuring of differ-

Eventually, the performance of these different macro entities will, somewhat

By adopting such an intermediate approach, the current study focuses on the

briefly addressed. It can be argued that in different market economies, firms

back (Haffer 2006). However, much of the discussion in biology is internal to

The challenges of translation

In addition to their origin, private organizations can be distinguished through

The diversity of political species

new historical conditions and understandings of their role in politics. Further-

Figure 1.1 Species, time, and space

Closely akin to side-slipping is the Christiania swing with the stick,

The Telemark swing is more difficult to master than the Christiania

The holder is made of a piece of sheet copper of sufficient

¶Celery keeps well in a small box of dry sand.

An Ordinary Alarm Clock Mounted in a Wood Base Made in Elaborate

Three designs of clocks are shown, which can be easily made in

It is only necessary to set this calendar the first of each month, by

A Folding Ice Sled

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