#101 National (and Factional) Adaptation in Central America: Options for the 1980s
By James N. Rosenau
Abstract
This paper seeks to apply a theory of political adaptation to the internal and external conflicts presently swirling in and around the states of Central America. It does so on the grounds that conventional wisdom is unlikely to unravel the vast changes occurring in the region and that, accordingly, analysts must proceed from an explicit theoretical perspective if they hope to probe beneath the day-to-day course of events.
The theory, developed elsewhere by the author in The Study of Political Adaptation (1981) , posits four types of political adaptation (acquiescent, intransigent, promotive, and preservative) as stemming from the balance of internal and external demands to which any nation-state is endlessly subjected. To account for the fragmentation that has marked the politics of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala in recent years, the theory is extended to apply to factions as well as nations as the central unit of adaptation.
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