This article looks at theories of political development in poor countries that have been produced in the United States and that base their scientific practice (research, classification and selection of themes) on a particular representation of what defines these countries. Our underlying question is an understanding of the passage from a developmentalist and economic representation to a view that is more centered on stability and order which taking place in the 1960s. For these purposes, we focus initially on the series Studies in Political Development, of the Committee on Comparative Politics. This object provides us with a privileged vantage point from which to see the transformations that classical theory had to undergo in order to move on to the new theme of instability. Finally, our analysis of Huntington's classic works shows what the characteristics of the emergent representation are. Two key aspects are studied: i) the representation of poor countries and the relationship that is established between the theory of political development, the theory of economic development and modernization theory and ii) (ii) the meaning of political development. The analysis of the works we have spoken of indicates that, through the introduction of the theme of instability, the theory of political development is consolidated as a relevant and autonomous field of study, since this theme enables us to conceptualize its object - political development - and to argue that it cannot be completely encompassed by social and economic modernization.
Representation; Development Theory; United States; Stability; 1960s