Dynamic Strategy Model of Explaining Long-term Historical Change

Abstract

This article discusses the dynamic strategy model developed by G.D. Snooks that tries to understand the dynamic process driving human society from the long past into the future. This model stands in a mixture of two contradicting worlds, between economics dealing with abstractionsand mathematical model built deductively and historical explanationdeparting from real world by relying on inductive method. It analyzes the characteristics of the dynamic strategy model and identifies its differences and similarities with other models. In explaining the historical changes that bring the old societies ups and downs, Snooks introduces what is called dominant and supportive strategies. The driving force of the dynamics in human society is the materialist man who is naturally motivated to maximize the material standard of living. The strength of the dynamic strategy model is mainly laid in the explanatory power offered to explain the long-term changes taking place in human society. This contrasts with a deductive model which laid its strength in predictive power to forecast the future.