ABSTRACT
The interchange model that Talcott Parsons develops in his later work is ineluctably multidimensional; his idealist deviation in no way affects the presuppositional nature of this formulation. Parsons created interchange so that he could systematically differentiate integration and pattern maintenance from the more instrumental dimensions to facilitate theoretical synthesis. In presuppositional terms, Parsons and Smelser ignore the multidimensional alternative to individualistic rationalism and devote themselves, instead, to demonstrating the importance of nonrational, collective regulation. Although producing a plausible and interesting answer to a particular empirical problem, Parsons and Smelser have limited their discussion of the consumption exchange to the terms established by the Durkheim-Freud synthesis. Parsons' ambivalence centers on the role of the independent goal-attainment dimension itself, the dimension which through its combinatorial power is the central component in the political process. Parsons believes that the degree of coercive hierarchy in an organization corresponds to its dependence upon instrumental as opposed to normative kinds of internal controls.
