The Coercion–Extraction Cycle and the Paradox of Stability

Our paper revisits the work of Samuel Finer and David Easton in order to establish a fi rmer grasp on the problem of political stability within a given state or regime. We suggest that Finer’s ap-proach to the problem of coercion–extraction is not wholly incompatible with Easton’s political system approach (as modifi ed by Gabriel Almond). By combining what Finer and Easton (as un-derstood through Almond) off er, we construct a framework that allows us to better understand political stability. Th e model we construct off ers current researchers exploring the workings of political stability a useful tool to study and focus on the various dynamics that drive the stability of any given political system.