ABSTRACT
Of course these do not exhaust the kinds of questions we might ask about societies as wholes. The sociological bases and con sequences of any type of political order might be studied, and compared with those of democracy. We might observe the socio logical processes that take place when a na tion is created suddenly, or over a long time; or when nations organize to form still larger social units, or "super societies," such as the Common Market or the Allies during World War I I . Note that several previous articles in this book dealt with societies as wholes-for example, Allardt's and Dia mond's articles on social integration and le gitimacy, Lipset's analysis of the value bases of democracies, or Mills' and Kornhauser's discussions of the power structure.
