Interdependence, Density Dependence, and Networks in Politics

Abstract

This article addresses the theoretical and methodological challenges that arise due to the interdependence of actors within political processes. Networks of communication and association provide a resolution to the micro—macro problem in political analysis—they provide a vehicle through which individual behavior is reciprocally connected to behavior in the aggregate. A central argument of the article is that these networks are endogenous not only to individual choice and preference, but also to the environmentally imposed supply of associates, giving rise to patterns of density dependence in politics. Density dependence, in turn, produces its own complex consequences for political processes, and hence interdependence frequently becomes a theoretical as well as a methodological imperative in political analysis.