ABSTRACT
The Global Political System encompasses the political interactions and competition for system-wide hegemonic status throughout the globe. The conceptualization of the Global Political System is explained through three developments. First, as the world political systems absorbed or fused into one another, a more integrated, globalizing political system defined the macropolitical landscape. Second, the Global Political System is the byproduct of the expansion of the European System, as it absorbed and integrated political actors into a single, global system. Third, data collection begins around the 1500s, as the European Age of Exploration and colonization provides the historical demarcation point where separate world political systems integrated into a single global system. The Global Political System during 1500 AD–1590 AD unipolar period is defined by a single system-wide actor and a set of relatively powerful sub-system actors. Britain's rise transitioned the Global Political System into a bipolar configuration, with France serving as the opposing pole.
