DURING THE PAST 25 years many advances have been made in gaining a more accurate understanding of the politics of sovereign nation-states. In addition to other developments in political analysis, behavioral studies have contributed much in focusing attention on many elements of the political system which had been previously ignored. In the field of comparative politics, this new methodology sought to look beyond description to theoretically relevant problems in political research. It endeavored to go beyond the single case study to the comparison of many case studies. It extended political analysis beyond the formal institutions of government to extra-official phenomena in the political culture and political processes. Very important, this trend broadened the study of comparative politics from the industrialized nations in North America and Western Europe to economically underdeveloped nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Behavioralism in varying degrees likewise applied an interdisciplinary approach to the study of politics and incorporated politically relevant influences imparted by economic and social factors. The behavioral method has been widely criticized in the United States and abroad. Traditionalists and other critics have confronted the movement with the charge that it gives insufficient emphasis to the role