Internal War: Attempts to change by violence, or threat of violence, a government’s

policies, rulers or organization.

Social theorists who regard revolutions as forces of progress, agencies of social
adjusment, and suitable activities for moral men: Marxist, political evolutionists, social
romantics love of violence (condottiere-worshippers) like DÁnnunzio and Malaparte,
ferocious revolutionaries like Blanqui and Sorel.
Lucian Pye, P.162: Perhaps the very seriousness of much modern internal war accounts
for the relative neglect of internal war studies-that this neglect constitutes a kind of
sublimation of traumatic social experiences.

In general an enormous gulf still exists in social science between theoritical schemata
and empirical work and why, confronted with a concrete subject like internal war, even the
more illustrious masters of social theory are visible ill at ease.
Pre-theoritical concerns in IW Study:
1. Delimitation: To state unambiguously what that subject is.
Can these phenomena in fact be generalized about, and what other concrete events must
valid generalizations about them fit? While a subject usually originates in an interest, the
interest does not constitute the subject.
Someone interested in hungarian uprising, potemkin mutiny and laotian guerilla war has
a topic, or three, but he still has to determine whether any theories about all three can
constructed, what kinds, and in what other cases they should or should not hold. Must
discover the boundaries of his subject, DELIMIT IT. First is to find a homogeneous set of
cases. Second is somehow to limit the degree of homogeneousity required.
Internal War belongs to the realm not only of social force but also to political outputs
advantageous to the groups that urge them, favorable policies, offices, or general control
of the political structure of society.
Janos: IW is part of the general struggle of individuals, groups, parties and movements
for “authority”
Marion J. Levy: IW involve challenges by “minority systems” to the “Gemeinschaft set” of
values in a society.
S.M. Lipset: IW belong to the general universe of social instability

2. Classification: its object is to divide a subject into classes distinct from one another –
classes about which both common and separate generalizations can and ought to be
formulated.
Janos Lists 7 techniques of internal war: strikes, demonstrations, terrorism, guerilla
warfare, civil war, insurrection, coup de force)
Thornton: 1 type of IW – terror - but distingushes it briefly from 2 others, one involving
conventional warfare, the other guerilla warfare)
Kornhausser: Classifies cases according to the authority structures in which internal arise
and toward which they tend.

3. Analysis: The division of a subject into its basic components. Its counterpart is
synthesis, the combination of the components into typological classes or to represent
particular cases. Example: Chemical table of elements.

4. Problemation: To indicate that formulating problems for theory-construction is not

simply what it is commonly thought to be, a mere matter of stating interesting interrogative
sentences, but a more complicated process that, like other pre-theoritical operations, is
not quites as arbitrary as it may seem.

The word "arbitrary" typically refers to something that is determined or based on

personal preference, whim, or random choice rather than by any objective or rational
criteria. Here are some key aspects of its meaning:
1. Subjective or Random: When something is described as arbitrary, it suggests that
it lacks a clear or logical basis and is instead decided upon arbitrarily, often without
reason or justification.
2. Capricious: It can also imply a sense of unpredictability or inconsistency,
suggesting that decisions or actions are made impulsively or haphazardly.
3. Unilateral or Dictatorial: In some contexts, "arbitrary" can imply a sense of authority
exercised without accountability or regard for others' rights or interests. For
example, an "arbitrary decision" might be one made by a ruler or authority figure
without consultation or due process.
Overall, "arbitrary" conveys a sense of something being determined or done without a
solid rationale or objective basis, often with an element of randomness or personal
preference.