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Journal of Theoretical Politics
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Structure, Indeterminacy and Chaos

A Case for Sociological Law

Robert Huckfeldt

This paper re-examines the relationship between structural explanations and indeterminacy within the context of chaos and chaotic processes. The analysis demonstrates that the logic of a wholly determinate structure is not incompatible with a complex, apparently indeterminate outcome. This fact has important consequences for explanation in the social sciences, and for the evaluation of indeterminacy in social and political processes. In particular, it suggests that indeterminacy is not necessarily a repudiation of structural explanations for social and political life because a determinate structure is fully capable of generating complex and even seemingly stochastic behavior. Thus, the central task of the social sciences is correctly seen as an identification of the structure and logic underlying social processes, including the logic and structure of indeterminacy.

Key Words: structure • chaos • determinacy • coercion • non-compliance

Journal of Theoretical Politics, Vol. 2, No. 4, 413-433 (1990)
DOI: 10.1177/0951692890002004004
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