When I was invited to participate in a symposium designed to consider the possible implications of the theory of punctuated equilibria for the study of political science, I faced the need to reexamine some fundamental questions. These transcended such issues as whether and how frequently the phenomenon referred to as punctuated equilibrium occurred, and whether it might indeed be similar to some phenomena studied by political scientists. Rather, I felt it necessary to establish for myself whether, when, and how any biologically based theory or set of hypotheses could be applied to the realm of the social sciences and what cautions might be demanded by such application.