  We present a simple classification of the different liquid and solid phases
of quantum Hall systems in the limit where the Coulomb interaction between the
electrons is significant, i.e. away from integral filling factors. This
classification, and a criterion for the validity of the mean-field
approximation in the charge-density-wave phase, is based on scaling arguments
concerning the effective interaction potential of electrons restricted to an
arbitrary Landau level. Finite-temperature effects are investigated within the
same formalism, and a good agreement with recent experiments is obtained.
