ABSTRACT
As I indicated in chapter 1, I propose to explore in depth the problem of compliance as it arises in the international system. To this end I shall treat the international system as a member of the class of highly decentralized social systems. Decentralized systems are those in which both authority and power are distributed horizontally rather than hierarchically. Large social systems of this type are often described as stateless societies, but decentralized social systems occur at many other levels as well. The concept of decentralization identifies a spectrum of possibilities rather than a dichotomy. There are extensive variations in the ways social systems distribute authority and power, and it is not helpful to attempt arbitrarily to group all systems under the headings of centralized and decentralized. In this discussion, however, I shall be concerned with common features of social systems that lie well along toward the decentralized end of the spectrum. While it is possible to regard highly decentralized social systems as anarchies in the formal or technical sense of the term, such systems will not inevitably be characterized by disorder or chaos (Shatz, 1971, pp. xi-xxix). Nevertheless, highly decentralized social systems lack rulers or centralized institutions of government, and this is the defining characteristic of anarchy in the technical sense.
