Contemporary Approaches to Political Stability

The concept of is an excellent illustration of the fuzziness and confusion existing in political science research regarding concept formation, operationalization, and measurement. The concept of stability means all things as various individuals attempt to measure the degree or amount of present in their particular universe. This review essay will attempt to delineate the major approaches to the term. The concept of stability is approached by most political scientists from the behavioral point of view, in the sense that the concept can be defined and measured through reproducible and verifiable techniques. Although there are strands of common agreement in most of the literature as to the basic broad meaning of the term, confusion abounds due to the lack of agreement concerning the meaning of the terms employed to define stability; and there is also a lack of consensus regarding the operationalization of these latter terms. The differing views and approaches to political stability are seen to be: (a) the absence of violence; (b) governmental longevity/duration; (c) the existence of a legitimate constitutional regime; (d) the absence of structural change; and (e) a multifaceted societal attribute.