Encyclopedia of Sociology

CONVERGENCE THEORIES

with regard to the timing of population changes or
the regional variations observed within nations
undergoing change.

FAMILY

Inkeles (1980) explored the effects of putative
convergent tendencies discussed above for family
patterns. While he found evidence of convergence
in some aspects of family life, other patterns con-
tinue ‘‘to be remarkably stable in the face of great
variation in their surrounding socio-economic con-
ditions’’ (p. 34). Aspects of family life that show
clear convergent patterns include the trend to-
ward falling fertility rates and a shift in relative
power and resource control in the direction of
increasing autonomy of women and declining au-
thority of parents. Other aspects of the family,
such as age at first marriage, appear to present a
more complex picture, with short-term fluctua-
tions obscuring long-term changes, and great varia-
tion from one culture to another. Still other char-
acteristics of family life seem resistant to change;
cited as examples in Inkeles (1980) are cultural
patterns such as veneration of elders in many
Asian societies, basic human needs for compan-
ionship and psychological support, and the role of
husbands helping wives with housework. In all,
Inkeles (1980) estimates that only about half the
indicators of family life he examined showed any
convergence, and even then not always of a line-
ar nature.

EDUCATION

Following Inkeles’ (1981) reformulation of con-
vergence theory, Inkeles and Sirowy (1983) stud-
ied the educational systems of seventy-three rich
and poor nations. Among thirty different ‘‘pat-
terns of change’’ in educational systems examined,
they found evidence of marked convergence in
fourteen, moderate convergence in four, consid-
erable variability in nine, mixed results in two, and
divergence in only one. Based on these findings,
they conclude that the tendency toward conver-
gence on common structures is ‘‘pervasive and
deep. It is manifested at all levels of the education-
al system, and affects virtually every major aspect
of that system’’ (p. 326). Also worthy of note is that
while the authors take the conventional position

that convergence is a response to pressures arising

from a complex, technologically advanced social

and economic system, they also identify diffusion

via integration of networks through which ideas,

standards, and practices in education are shared.

These networks operate largely through interna-

tional organizations, such as UNESCO and the

OECD; their role as mediating structures in a

process leading toward cross-national similarities

in education constitutes an important addition to

convergence theory, with wide-ranging implica-

tions for convergence in other institutions.

THE WELFARE STATE

The development of the welfare state has inspired

active theoretical debate and empirical research

on convergence theory, with researchers divided

over the nature and extent of convergence found

across nations. On the one hand, there is indisput-

able evidence that extensive social security, health

care, and related benefit programs is restricted to

nations that have reached a level of economic

development where a sufficient surplus exists to

support such efforts. Moreover, the development

of programs of the welfare state appears to be

empirically correlated with distinct bureaucratic

and demographic patterns that are in turn grounded

in economic development. For example, Wilensky

(1975) found that among sixty nations studied the

proportion of the population sixty-five years of age

and older and the age of social security programs

were the major determinants of levels of total

welfare-state spending as a percent of gross nation-

al product. Since levels of economic development

and growth of the elderly population both repre-

sent areas of convergence among advanced socie-

ties, it is reasonable to expect that patterns of

welfare-state development will also tend to con-

verge. Indeed, in such respects as the development

of large and expensive pension and health-care

programs, of which the elderly are the major

clientele, this is the case (Coughlin and Armour

1982; Hage et al. 1989). Other empirical studies

have found evidence of convergence in public

attitudes toward constituent programs of the wel-

fare state (Coughlin 1980), in egalitarian political

movements affecting welfare effort across nations

(Williamson and Weiss 1979), and in levels of

spending (Pryor 1968), normative patterns (Mishra

1976), and social control functions of welfare-state