Elementary Theory: 25 Years of Expanding Scope and Increasing Precision

Willer, David; Emanuelson, Pamela; Lovaglia, Michael J.; Simpson, Brent; Thye, Shane R.; Walker, Henry A.; Corra, Mamadi; Gilham, Steven; Lewis, Danielle; Patton, Travis; Chacon, Yamilette; Chacon, Richard J.

doi:10.1108/s0882-6145_2014_0000031005

Cited by 2 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…It is certainly not a necessary part of the theory toolbox methodology that the theories and models drawn from the box be authored by the same people who developed them. While with colleagues we formulated and tested the Elementary Theory models employed here (Willer et al, 2014), we doubt that our authorship was necessary for applying the theory. Nevertheless, when we found that the toolbox had a missing link, that the end conditions of the status-based chiefdom did not link to the initial conditions of the coercive chiefdom, previous experience with theory-driven experiments helped us develop and test the indirect coercion model that spanned the gap.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moving from influence to power, we put SCT back in the toolbox and pull out Elementary Theory (ET; Willer, 1984; Willer et al, 2014). ET, with its flexible modeling procedure, will be used to model the relations and structures of three types of the chiefdom and the state.…”

Section: Status-lineage and The Path Toward The Statementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The overall structure of the consolidation offered here is that of a toolbox (Hedstrȍm and Udehn, 2009: 31), the theories of which are linked in a path-dependent process. For example, two theories pulled from the toolbox are Status Characteristics Theory (Berger et al, 2014) and Elementary Theory (Willer et al, 2014). Those two are used to build diagrams of social structures made dynamic by mechanisms (Hedstrȍm and Bearman, 2009: Chapter 1 passim).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theory toolbox for historical explanation: An essay in analytic sociology

Willer

Emanuelson

2022

Methodological Innovations

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Merton proposed middle range theories, not as ends in themselves, but as bases for a consolidation to explain broader phenomenon. More than a half century has passed since Merton’s consolidation proposal and in that time a number of experimentally tested middle range theories have been developed. Certainly, the next step should be a consolidation. Yet, to our knowledge, no one has previously offered a consolidation of experimentally tested theories and applied it for explanation. This paper offers a consolidation of middle range theories formulated to explain the rise of the pristine state. Two theories of this consolidation, Status Characteristics Theory and Elementary Theory, form the core of what Analytic Sociologists have called a toolbox of theories. Our toolbox forms an integrated consolidation in two ways. First, the social structures modeled by the theories form a path-dependent process of increasing benefits gained by the elites of the structures. Second, the end conditions of each step of the process are the initial conditions of the next. Whereas the theories in our toolbox have previously been seen as applying exclusively to microstructures, we have encountered no difficulties in scaling them up to apply to macrostructures. While we hope the consolidation has validity in explaining the occurrence of pristine states, this paper’s significance lies in its demonstration that today social theories can be consolidated and applied for explanation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Status-lineage and The Path Toward The Statementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theory toolbox for historical explanation: An essay in analytic sociology

Willer

Emanuelson

2022

Methodological Innovations

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“…Both status characteristics theory and elementary theory are formally stated sociological theories that have been tested hundreds of times in experiments that have supported the theories while broadening their scope (Berger, Wagner, and Webster 2014; D. Willer et al 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nor is such a review needed. Both have been comprehensively reviewed, most recently in Berger et al (2014) and D. Willer et al (2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Social Structures in Transition: Applications of Two Theories to Chiefdoms

Emanuelson

Willer

2018

Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

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Status characteristics theory and elementary theory are applied to explain developments through three structural forms that chiefdoms are known to take. Theoretic models find that downward mobility inherent in the first form, the status-lineage structure, destabilizes its system of privilege. As a consequence, high-status actors are motivated to find mechanisms to preserve and enhance privilege. By engaging in hostile relations with other chiefdoms, high-status actors offer protection to low-status others from real or imagined threats. Through that protection, they gain tribute and support. The result is structural change from influence based on status to power exercised through indirect coercion, the second structural form. In settled societies, accumulation through war and selective redistribution contribute to separation of warrior and commoner rankings. That separation leads to the third structural form, direct coercive chiefdom.

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Elementary Theory: 25 Years of Expanding Scope and Increasing Precision

Cited by 2 publications

References 39 publications

Theory toolbox for historical explanation: An essay in analytic sociology

Theory toolbox for historical explanation: An essay in analytic sociology

Social Structures in Transition: Applications of Two Theories to Chiefdoms

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