INPUT OUTPUT ANALYSIS OF DAVID EASTON

Introduction:
The concept of system, as well as a language of inputs and outputs, demands and
supports, and feedback, were brought to politics by David Easton in the early 1950s,
when he was a young political scientist. The political system was considered the
fundamental unit of analysis, and the infra-system behaviour of various systems was the
primary focus of his research, which was carried out through the use of system theory.
Easton's Definition:
Political system, according to Easton, is "a series of interactions that are abstracted
from the totality of social conduct and through which values are authoritatively allotted
for a society." Politics is one of many different social systems, and it is one among many
different types of social systems. It is the part of the social system that is responsible for
the 'authoritative allocation of values. It is sometimes referred to as input-output analysis
or the conversion process in the context of Easton's systems analysis. His theory of
politics holds that the political system takes inputs from the environment in the form of
demands and supports, and then translates them into outputs in the form of policies or
decisions. During the input-output analysis process, the political system is considered to
be both open and adaptive.. In this method, the nature of communication and
transaction between the political system and the other systems that exist in its
immediate environment is the primary subject of investigation.. Various effects from
other systems are brought into contact with the political system, which reacts in a
manner consistent with those influences. Consequently, input-out theory conducts a
systematic or scientific investigation into the interaction between the political system
and its surrounding environment.
Remember that it is authoritative allocation, rather than mere allocation, that
distinguishes political allocation from other forms of allocation. In order to distinguish
authoritative allocation from mere allocation, it is possible to refer to the political system
as consisting of all the roles and institutions that enable authoritative allocation to take
place. 'The political system is the most inclusive system of behaviour in a society for the
authoritative allocation of values,' according to Easton." It is this border that
distinguishes the political system from other social systems, and it is within this
boundary that the political system operates.
The Political System's External Environment:
Environment is a part of the political system, which means that political life is defined as
a system of conduct that is disseminated in different contexts. Political systems operate
in a social and physical environment, which is defined as follows: According to Easton,
the environment is divided into two major categories: intra-societal environment and
extra-societal environment. It is the element of the social and physical environment that
exists outside the bounds of a political system but is nonetheless considered to be part
of the same society as that political system. It is possible to further subdivide the intra-
societal environment into four types: (a) ecological, (b) biological, (c), personality, and
(d) environment.
Natural environment The non-human organic circumstances of human existence are
referred to as the ecological environment. Geographical environments such as climate,
territory, topographic features such as forests, rivers, mountains and physical resources
are included in the definition of physical environment. Techno-human organic
conditions, on the other hand, are defined as the nature, location, and accessibility of
good-supply and other flora and fauna that can be used by the members of a political
system. Individuals' genetic and inherited characteristics are included in their biological
environment. If we are talking about the political system, the components of
collaboration and logic that are passed down from generation to generation assist the
former to survive. Generally speaking, the term "personality environment" refers to the
personalities within and outside a political system. The functioning of any political
system is often influenced by the other social systems, which include the cultural,
economic and religious systems, as well as demographic systems.
The extra-societal environment, on the other hand, exists not only outside of the political
system, but also outside of the boundaries of a certain country. The international
environment includes political systems of other countries as well as international
organisations like the United Nations (UN), SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization), and the International Court of Justice. It also includes international
economic, sociocultural and demographic systems (such as the United Nations).
Regulatory Mechanism :
Due to the fact that the political system is always exposed to the aforementioned
environment, it is influenced by it. According to Easton, the political system is linked to
its surroundings through a series of inputs and outputs, which is a two-way street. The
movement of these influences into the political system puts pressure on the political
system. Swerves are obstacles that cause the usual functioning of a system to be
disrupted, sometimes to the point of failure entirely. Stress may occur within the political
system as a result of the authoritative allocation of values, which is necessary for the
system to continue to exist. Because it is self-regulatory in nature, the system has
developed its own regulatory mechanism. There are four basic categories of regulatory
mechanisms, namely, gatekeeping, cultural, communication, and reduction processes,
each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The gatekeeping mechanism is responsible for maintaining the boundaries of the
political system. Its purpose is to prevent the inflow of wants or demands from entering
the system and becoming articulated demands by regulating the flow of wants or
demands. This mechanism prohibits any form of demand that is in conflict with the
norms, culture, values, or practises that are prevalent in the society in question from
becoming a reality. The political system, on the other hand, develops particular
communication channels via which requests are persuaded or pressured to flow through
the process through the use of communication mechanisms. As well as conversion
processes (mechanisms), the political system has a variety of reduction processes
(mechanisms) via which demands can be compelled to convert themselves into specific
issues, without which they would be unable to properly feed into the conversion process
of the political system.
Inputs of the political system:
Remember that if the pressures are communicated to the political system through
inputs, there are primarily two sorts of inputs: demands and supports. In order for the
system to function, it must receive demands and supports from the environment, which
can be both intra- and extra-societal in nature.
In the context of a given subject area, a demand is an expression of the belief that an
authoritative allocation should or should not be made by those who are in charge of
making such decisions. Four types of demands on the political system can be
distinguished: (a) demands for hour laws, educational opportunities, transportation,
roads, health facilities, security, and so on; (b) demands for the regulation of behaviour,
such as provision for public safety, control over markets, rules pertaining to traffic
control, and so on; (c) demands for participation in political processes, such as the right
to vote, the right to hold public office, and the right to organise political associations, and
so on. These demands are communicated to the political system through a variety of
intermediaries, including religious leaders, elites, caste leaders, political parties,
pressure organisations, and the news media, among others.
Support, on the other hand, is submitting to the political system and its processes and
demonstrating loyalty to them. As well as material support, there are four other sorts of
support that are available to meet the demands: (a) mandatory, (b) participative, and (d)
symbolic support. The services provided to citizens by various political institutions.
Compliance with rules, laws, and regulations is an example of obligatory support. While
participatory supports refer to the exercise of the franchise, participation in elections,
and participation in decision-making processes, symbolic supports include paying
attention to government communication, showing deference to or respect for public
authorities, symbols, and ceremonial practises, among other things.
It should be underlined that in order for the political system and the elites operating in
their positions to efficiently process requests, support from other social systems, as well
as from individuals working within the political system, must be received. According to
general principles, demands influence the policies or aims of a political system, whereas
supports offer the resources that enable a political system to achieve its objectives.
According to Easton, supports can be divided into two types: (a) specific supports and
(b) diffuse supports. Specific supports are those that are targeted at a specific area.
When support is given for a specific cause, it is called specific support. When it comes
in the form of loyalty, obedience to the law, or payment of taxes, it is considered diffuse.
Outputs of Political Systems:
The 'decisions' and activities of the political system, on the other hand, are referred to
as 'outputs', as previously indicated. On the output side, there are four sorts of
transactions that are quite similar to the supports in terms of structure. These include
extractions, behavioural restrictions, allocation of goods, and symbolic outputs, among
other things. Not only do outputs assist in determining the next cycle of inputs that find
their way into the political system, but they also help to decide the outcome of each
round of inputs. The feedback loop is the term used to describe this process.
In a political system, feedback is an important sort of response that can be used to
lower stress. It is a dynamic process in which information regarding the reactions of the
people to a political system's decision is transmitted back to the system in such a way
that it has an impact on the system's subsequent conduct. According to Easton,
because a political system is primarily concerned with long-term survival, this
information is critical to the officials who make decisions on behalf of the system. As a
result of the fact that political processes comprise a continuous and interconnected flow
of activity, David Easton refers to it as a 'Flow model' of the political system.
Criticisms:
Easton's interpretation, on the other hand, has been questioned by a number of different
scholars for a variety of reasons. It is true that his thesis has less applicability under a
totalitarian political structure, which is correct. Orex Young claims that his model does
not aid in the analysis of the problem of power distribution among men and that it is
ineffective in society. However, it does not address the question of power distribution
between whom, where, and why, which was raised by Lasswell in the first place. On
three different levels, according to R. H. Chilcote, his analysis can be called into
question. In this section, you will find information about I conceptual prospectors, (ii)
operational possibilities, and (iii) ideologic orientations
David Easton Input and Output
Analysis:
David Easton’s systems approach is known as input-output analysis. It is also
called the conversation process. It laid emphasis on the conversation of inputs into
outputs. In this model, an analogy is drawn to the “Black Box” notion, taken from
the field of electrical engineering. To quote Ross Ashbey, “We imagine the
investigator has before him a black box that, for any expression cannot be opened.
It has various inputs-switches that he may move up or down, terminals to which he
may apply potential, photoelectric cell on to which he may shine lights and so on.
Also available are outputs-terminals on which potential may be measured, light
that may flash, pointers may move over a graduated scale and so on”. The
investigator is supposed to estimate, what the outputs of the black box will be i.e.
how to manipulate the switches and levers controlling the inputs or the manner in
which the black box will respond on the feedback information it receives. The
process is illustrated in the diagram-

David Easton has based his system analysis on this model. A political system is
represented somewhat according to this diagram-
Easton illustrated his concept of the political system with the help of figure II. He
was of the opinion that the political system, functioning with the general social
environment largely consists of the input and output structures and conversion
process. One must study all these aspects analytically to understand a political
system.

Before we discuss the detailed analysis of the system, let us know Easton’s
definition of the important terms he used in his model-

(1) Political System- “Those institutions, processes and interactions through which

values are authoritatively allocated in a society”.
(2) Environment- “Those social, biological, sociological, political, economic and
personality forces both inside and outside a particular society that effect and are
effected by the political system but are analytically distinct from it.”
(3) Inputs- “Those events in the environment that act upon the political system and
evoke some kind of response from it. According to Easton, there are two kinds of
inputs: demands which are expressions of desire that values be allocated in
particular ways and supports which are expressions of willingness to accept
particular value allocations or the processes by which the allocations are made”.
(4) Conversion Process- “Those institutions, processes and interactions by which
the political system converts demands and supports into outputs”.
(5) Outputs- “Those actions by the political system that affect the system’s
environment in some manner, consisting mainly of authoritative decisions and
acts- that is laws, executive orders, judicial decisions and the like promulgated by
the authorities (people generally recognized as having the legitimate power and
duty to allocate values).
(6) Outcomes- “Those changes in the environment brought about by the political
system’s outputs”.
(7) Feedback- “Those changes in that nature, intensity and volume of demands
and supports brought about by the outcomes”.
(8) Demands- “A demand is an expression of opinion that an authoritative
allocation with regard to a particular subject matter should or should not be made
by those responsible for doing so”.
(9) Supports- Supports are pressures brought on the political system to continue
what it is doing. These come in the form of obedience to laws, payment of taxes
etc.
Easton was mainly concerned with the relationship between a system and the
environment in which it was located. He postulated the existence of a close
relationship between the system and the environment. He divided the basic
components of his model into inputs, consisting of demands and supports, and
outputs connected by feedback. As regards demands, he distinguished between
external demands coming from the environment and internal ones from within the
system. Easton has also explained three objects of supports-

(a) “The political community” is defined as a group that seeks to settle differences
or promote decisions through a peaceful action in common”.

(b) The “regime”, equivalent to the constitutional order, including arrangements

for the processing demands and implementation of decisions.

(c) The “government” which undertakes concrete tasks.

The relationship between these three is portrayed in figure III.

Easton has also discussed the flow model of the political system. According to
him, every political process involves a continuous and interlinked flow of
behaviour. For Easton, outputs are not the terminal points. They are the feedback
for the authorities for subsequent actions. Thus, input-output is a continuous
process.