Redundant substitutable means make social and weapons systems more stable

Evidence

Finally, we consider a substitutable relationship between the secondary and basic levels. In this case, the secondary-level variables are neither causes nor constitutive features of the basic-level causal variables. Rather, each secondary-level variable is a substitutable means to a given basic-level variable. At the basic level is a concept such as “labor incorporation” (Collier and Collier 1991). Substitutability at the secondary level is an analysis of the different ways that labor can be or has been incorporated in different countries. In some countries this incorporation occurred via political parties, while in others it has been done by the state. Cioffi-Revilla (1998) stresses that substitutability is related to redundancy in systems (e.g., Bendor 1985; Landau 1969). Systems are more stable if necessary components have backups and alternative sources. An example is U.S. nuclear deterrence via the triad of air-, land-, and submarine-based weapons. If any one or two legs of the system were to be taken out by attack, there is enough redundancy in the system to give the United States a second strike capability (Cioffi-Revilla 1998). — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 1600

Categorization

• CANDY: The nuclear triad as a redundancy illustration is an easy, self-contained tidbit worth passing on.
• XREF: Links to organizational and systems-theory work on redundancy (Landau, Bendor) and to Collier and Collier’s labor incorporation typology.