Combining opposing paradigms yields no rule for which trend prevails when

Evidence

Yet this sacrifices parsimony for realism and, if pursued very far, leads to the rejection of all paradigms or theories. In addition, by embracing two simultaneous opposing trends, the fragmentation-integration model fails to set forth under what circumstances one trend will prevail and under what circumstances the other will. The challenge is to develop a paradigm that accounts for more crucial events and provides a better understanding of trends than other paradigms at a similar level of intellectual abstraction. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 71

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Contradictory econometric results cannot be adjudicated a priori — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 108; No coherent theory links regime type to forms of contention — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 42