ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with theoretical and methodological considerations concerning the choice of the country. It shows that the classification of different political regimes is based on ideal-typical constructs. Ideal types have been used by Max Weber as important methodological instruments and conceptual tools. A political regime is defined as the dominant alliance between the social classes and factions that underlies a given administration. Disarticulated regimes try to keep social conflict under control through a forced disarticulation or demobilization of political interests. At the same time, political issues are objectified and handed over to a cabinet of specialists or simply to the state administration for resolution or palliation. The initial presence of a strong state not geared to capitalist development and the gradual loss of control by the state class led to a specific dynamic with regard to external debt; together with other remnants of former empires the Ottoman Empire was a chronic heavy weight debtor before World War I.
