The State as a unit of analysis of regional systems: impacts in the systemic structure of South America

Abstract

This study evaluates the relationship between systemic units, based on the characteristics and formative aspects of States, and systemic deep structures, in the configuration of the South America regional system in the post-independence period (1810-2010). Our hypothesis is that the evolutions and changes through which regional systems pass seem to be conditioned by the State’s historical characteristics and processes, besides interactional and structural causes. These historical processes can be identified from three main mechanisms: 1) as constituent types/units of the system, from the processes of State formation and transformation; 2) as agents of systemic interactions; and 3) as structuring elements, based on their characteristics, relations and internal dynamics. The adoption of an eclectic perspective allied to the contributions of Historical Sociology makes it possible to evaluate the connection of historical processes with the changes in the South American regional system.