b. Interaction of Situations According to Scale

b. Interaction of Situations According to Scale

 

Generally, the whole constitutes the environment and activity conditions of its parts. Hence, micro-level phenomena are part of the middle-level phenomena, and the middle-level phenomena are part of the macro-level phenomena. This can be referred to as the "conditionality of macro-level phenomena" and can be formalized as follows.

 

         [Ch.2.16] (The Conditionality of Macro-Level Phenomena) The more macro-level political phenomena become the conditions for more micro-level political activities. (In other words, macro-level phenomena become the conditions for middle-level phenomena, and middle-level phenomena become the conditions for micro-level phenomena.)

 

The interrelationship of the components in the overall phenome- non of the Three-Level Scale can be summarized in [Diag.2.C.1].

 

[Diag.2.C.1] Structure of Interactions between Situations according to Scale

 

The Conditionality of Macro-Level Phenomena states that a more macro-level political phenomenon plays a crucial role in determining the rules of more micro-level political activities.

 

For example, consider the case of a Somali boy becoming a militiaman. The direct conditions that determine the boy's activity are that the Barre regime, which barely ruled Somalia until 1991, collapsed, and as a result, a large number of weapons held by the military and police were dispersed among the people, and the education system also collapsed, resulting in a lack of schools. As a result, seven armed groups, each with several militias, became active in Somalia. This is a middle-level phenomenon.

 

This middle-level phenomenon determines the activity rules of its micro-level counterpart. In this instance, the middle-level phenomenon is a situation where there are no schools and security is uncertain, while the micro-level phenomenon is a young boy joining an armed group. In this situation, the young boy received no education and first came into contact with a gun at the age of eight. By the mid-teens, he had relocated to Mogadishu, the central city of Somalia, and became a mercenary.

 

If the subject of the micro-level phenomenon was an individual boy, then the subject of the middle-level phenomenon is an armed group or mercenary group. Why were there so many weapons in Somalia, enough for these mercenary groups to arm themselves? This is due to the international situation at the time, which saw significant military support from both the United States and the Soviet Union. Initially, the Barre regime adhered to a socialist ideology, which is why it received military support from the Soviet Union. However, in 1997 when Somalia and Ethiopia went to war, the Soviet Union supported Ethiopia's socialist regime, and as a result, Somalia received military support from the United States. As a result, weapons poured into Somalia from both countries. This is the macro-level phenomenon as an environment and condition in which armed groups became active in Somalia.

 

Here, the middle-level phenomenon (mercenary group) is a higher organization that encompasses the micro-level phenomenon (militia boy), and the macro-level phenomenon (Somalia) also includes the middle-level phenomenon (mercenary group) as a higher organization. This is because significant phenomena from a political perspective are combined with relationships between organizations and their constituents.

 

The discourse of the "Muosahwa" regarding the Sarim faction (士林派) of Joseon can also be analyzed using the Three-Level Scale. At the macro-level, it can be considered a significant condition in the "Muosahwa" that the Hungu power monopolized the economic power in the 15th and 16th centuries within a stable political-economic situation, and engaged in corruption and embezzlement. This is the actions of a larger organization, the state, and thus represents the macro-level layer.

 

The emergence of conflict between Yeongnam Sarim and the Hungu faction, which had a prominent presence in the central government after the reign of King Seongjong, due to the stronger economic and intellectual foundations of Yeongnam Sarim, brought about by advancements in agricultural technology and Confucianism, is considered a middle-level phenomenon. The Yeongnam Sarim, as members of the macro-level organization of Joseon, are the subjects of this middle-level phenomenon, while the Yeongnam Sarim constitutes the upper organization of Kim Il-son, who was a member of the group. The punishment of Kim Il-son, based on the citation of Yu Jakwong's "Vito," constitutes a micro-level phenomenon and is part of the middle-level phenomenon.

 

The influence of personal tendencies and traits of foreign ministers on Russian diplomacy during the reign of Nicholas II (19th century) serves as an example of how, on occasion, micro-level phenomena can strongly impact middle-level or macro-level phenomena. However, this is limited to situations where the micro-level phenomenon's protagonist has sufficient power in terms of position or assets to rival the subjects of middle-level or macro-level phenomena. In such cases, the micro-level phenomenon is not practically a constituent of the middle-level or macro-level organization. The foreign minister of Russia holds a distinct capacity compared to other business owners in other countries.

 

What is the concrete way that macro-level, middle-level, and micro-level phenomena interact with each other? This can be determined by combining the conditionality of macro-level phenomena and the principles of the Samjae capacities[Ch.1.2]. That is, the threat existing in relative macro-level phenomena restricts the choice of actors in relative micro-level areas.

 

Survival drives individuals and organizations to act, which requires overcoming three types of threats. For example, in the case of the decline in American agricultural prices, the development of transportation and communication (counteracting threat) at the macro-level provided a means for individuals to increase their economic benefits. At the middle-level, individuals overproduced agriculture to take advantage of the opportunity for profit increase (counteracting competition). The emergence of means for profit increase prompted individuals to choose to overproduce agriculture. In Somalia, the threat of violence against the Bare regime arose in the international situation, while young soldiers faced both the threat of violence and poverty in the social conditions created by armed groups. Under these circumstances, political constituents acted to overcome the threats, which shaped their choices.