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SIMPLIFICATION OF THE THEORY OF POLITICAL MOBILIZATION IS ACHIEVED BY TREATING THE IDEOLOGY OF A MOBILIZING AGENT AS AN INNOVATION. THE PROCESS OF POLITICAL MOBILIZATION IS THEM TREATED AS A PROCESS OF INNOVATION OF NECESSARY LINKA BETWEEN THE MICRO AND MACRO LEVEL COMPONENTS OF THE PROCESS. EXTENDED TIME SERIES FOR SEVEN SOCIETIES UTILIZED.

Some useful simplification of the theory of political mobilization is achieved by treating the ideology of a mobilizing agent as an innovation. The process of political mobilization is then treated as a process of innovation diffusion. This perspective allows the development of the necessary linkage between the micro- & macro-level components of the process. The theory is tested using extended time series for seven societies -- the US, UK, Sweden, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the USSR, & the People's Republic of China -- & is supported. 8 Tables, 7 Figures, 1 Appendix, 16 References. HA.

The central problem of the general search for explanations of political change has been the lack of adequate explanations of the relationship between social change and political change. This research proposes and tests a six-variable causal model of the process of social change and political mobilization in the United States during the period 1870 to 1960. The variables used are based on previous theoretical efforts which have indicated that the process of social and political change is a syndrome. From these previous efforts a new model is synthesized. The model is found to operate as proposed during the period 1870 to 1910, and a simplified version in four variables is identified for the period 1920 to 1960.One of the central questions explored by this research is the degree to which the pattern of social change alters as the process of change proceeds through time. The transition in the United States is explained by reference to the threshold effect of two social infrastructures—urbanization and government activity in education.In light of the identification of the model, an attempt is then made at revising certain aspects of modernization theory.