acquisition by a political system of some new capability and its associated
changes in political culture and structure (Almond, 1963). A modern political
system would, unlike traditional polities, be able to use such concepts as
effectiveness and efficiency. Such a capability was seen as dependent on the
system’s resources in terms of powers to regulate, extract and distribute. The
more modern the political system the more able it would be to build up its
resources and in turn that would be dependent on the existence of differenti-
ated and specialized political structures (see, for example, Pye, 1965).
A central case in point is the bureaucracy. Only with a highly efficient
bureaucracy based on the principle of merit recruitment and organized
rationally as a specialized institution can a political system develop its full
capabilities to provide itself with resources and powers.
The contribution of modernization theory
The most durable aspect of modernization theory is its interdisciplinarity.
Economic and political changes are related in various ways to fundamental
changes in social values and social structures. Secularization also has
important political consequences both for the role of the individual in the
political system and for recruitment into political office. The emergence of
rational–legal authority has profound implications for the nature of the
state, not least in the opportunity which it opens up for bureaucratization.
Clusters of pattern variables provide models of social organization in which
the political significance of universalism, achieved status, neutrality and
specificity is plain. Of particular importance to the study of political devel-
opment is the effect of structural differentiation on the specialization of
political roles in transitional societies.
Much of what is expressed by functionalism has become almost common-
place and integrated into political analysis. Its enormous appeal is quite
understandable. It made a great impact on political studies. It attracted much
criticism particularly in its developmental aspects, but because it is not
entirely developmental, but a way of organizing information about political
phenomena, it has become an integral part of political science. It is also ques-
tionable whether students of comparative politics have developed superior
theories. It has been argued that structural functionalism was rejected because
it failed an unfairly severe test, that of providing comparative politics with a
scientific unity and an all-encompassing theory of politics (Lane, 1994).
Furthermore, much of the research on which contemporary development
policy is based confirms some of modernization theories basic assumptions:
that there is a mutually supporting relationship between legitimate political
58 Understanding Third World Politics