We will trace tendencies in political systems using diagrams such as the one at the bottom of this page (scroll as needed). Each arrow in the diagram represents a particular causal influence or tendency. Of course, human beings are agents of volitional consciousness and do not respond in a deterministic fashion to factors in their environments (p. 1.4:12). Nevertheless, economic, political, and cultural conditions clearly exert significant influences on human behavior, and the total effect of such influences within a complex social system can be grasped more readily when they are presented in graphic form, as here. This and similar diagrams will later be analyzed arrow by arrow, and each diagram will best be comprehended by checking off each arrow (influence) as it is understood.