Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 January 2009
Systems theorists introduced the concept of ‘support’ to permit explanations of political stability and instability. Yet most attempts to verify the existence of a relationship between support and stability empirically have dealt with wellestablished political systems, and have relied on data collected at one point in time. This paper reports an initial effort to examine the growth of support for a new political regime using a series of sample surveys providing data on changes in the level of support over time.
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5 In the election forecasts of 1957, 1961, 1965, and 1969, the average difference between the Institute's data and the official results was one per cent; the highest difference was 1.9 per cent.
6 ‘Wenn man das einmal ganz von der nützlichen Seite betrachtet: Brauchen wir in Bonn eigentlich ein Parlament und lauter Abgeordnete, oder ginge es auch ohne?’
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11 We would like to thank William H. Klink of the Department of Physics of the University of Iowa for his assistance in working out this formula.