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The impact of global changes on Latin American culture & subjects & the recent rise of new social movements are considered. Postmodern global changes have led to great inequalities in the distribution of wealth, environmental damage, & a sense of personal helplessness. The locus of social changes has been in the political area, assisted by the market & technology. However, social subjects are not mere products of technology; clinical psychology & the social sciences can aid in understanding the postmodern social subject embedded in a culture. The role of politics & the nature of political culture in Mexico are discussed. 24 References. Adapted from the source document.

Discusses the loss of the fundamental Western political aesthetic on a global scale, focusing on state & international alliance trends toward using legal violence against separatism. It is contended that the most dominant Western states have drifted far from the classic Greek ideals of democracy in regard to national & international security. Markets receive higher priority than human rights, while ethnicity & separatism are viewed as hostile elements in the current cases of Israel, Palestine, India, & Afghanistan. Thought, science, reason, & a fundamental sense of human principles appear to be absent from political communication between Western states. Adapted from the source document.

An introduction to an edited collection compares immigration during the two major periods (1880-1930 & 1965-2000). Also discussed are the history of sociology & political science in the US, its relationship to the study of immigrant incorporation, & the role of immigrants in American civic culture. Other topics include the recent emergence of transnationalism & its effect on the political behavior of immigrants; the role of the US state in shaping the immigrant experience; the key role of public schools in teaching English, civic ideals, & cultural mores to the immigrants' children; & directions for future research on the national & global immigrant experience. 22 References. J. R. Callahan

An introduction to an edited collection compares immigration during the two major periods (1880-1930 & 1965-2000). Also discussed are the history of sociology & political science in the US, its relationship to the study of immigrant incorporation, & the role of immigrants in American civic culture. Other topics include the recent emergence of transnationalism & its effect on the political behavior of immigrants; the role of the US state in shaping the immigrant experience; the key role of public schools in teaching English, civic ideals, & cultural mores to the immigrants' children; & directions for future research on the national & global immigrant experience. 22 References. J. R. Callahan

The ongoing discussion about sustainable development includes the relationship between the environment & population development. The author criticizes simplistic explanations concerning environment & population that are based on the transfer of models from natural sciences to society without reflection. Essentialistic as well as instrumentalistic understandings of nature tend to adopt such short-sighted interpretations. The author describes examples for East Africa that show the political & social conditions that lead to a shortage of land, the destruction of the environment & food scarcity. She develops the term "political ecology," based on an dialectical understanding of the relationship between nature & human being. 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

Estudios Politicos celebrates its 25th year with this edition. During that time, the journal has undergone four physical facelifts, but also changes in emphasis as Mexico has gone through the transition to democracy. The journal has presented works of the professional staff of the Faculty of Political & Social Sciences of the Autonomous National U of Mexico (UNAM), as well as from its students. The articles in the present issue, summarized here, cover democracy, social justice, political philosophy, & elections. The diversity & solid treatment of themes in this issue & prior ones give evidence of the mature & responsive academic community at UNAM. M. Pflum

How to put risk into maps ? The changing process of relationships between science and politics in the map-making of natural hazards
Cyril Bayet
The making of planning policies concerning natural hazards brings together scientific, juridical and political activities. Stuyding the administrative methodologies of implementation, the article examines how public authorities organize links between these various practices in attempting to legitimize decisions taken in this matter. It sheds light on an evolution of the role and place of scientific experts in decision-making processes. This change cornes with the setting up of new forms of political control regarding the usual technocratic decision-making.

AbstractThis essay attempts to describe, with objectivity and precision, the reason for the establishment of sociology in Cambodia, which has suffered a tragic and radical revolution. Sociology in Cambodia is a young science whose roots lie in the desire for rebirth, the will to understand the endemic social and political chaos of the country, and the need to provide an answer to the causes of genocide. The founding of the first Department of Sociology at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 1994 demonstrates the interest of the political and cultural authorities in this discipline, which is seen as an indispensable aid to the new course set by the nation.

This article argues that both hard and soft institutions shape the strategies and - to a lesser extent - the preferences of political actors in the European Union. First of all, it discusses the institutional perspective in political science and presents an institutional model of decision-making. Secondly the institutional argument is illustrated by a detailed account of the decision-makingprocess with respect to the Packaging Directive. An analysis of the actor configuration, the interactions between the involved actors and an overview of the decision-making process itself, all show to what extent actor's strategies and preferences are constrained and empowerd by the European institutional context.

The role of scientific knowledge in European environmental policy is examined in the context of building a European political culture. Some underlying cultural dimensions of scientific discourses for policy -- standardization, comparability, & objectivity -- are identified. A case study is offered of nature classification under the European CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) environmental information system (EFI). Some basic assumptions made in the construction of this EFI are argued to have implications not only for science & policy in the sphere of the environment, but for broader debates about identifications with European political culture. 1 Figure, 42 References. Adapted from the source document.

ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL CHALLENGES FACING POLITICAL SCIENCE IS UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLAINING THE CHANGES OCCURRING IN THE SOVIET UNION/RUSSIA AFTER 1985. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT TWO CONCEPTS TAKEN FROM THE TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY LITERATURE, LIBERALIZATION AND DEMOCRATIZATION, ARE USEFUL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN THIS REGION. IT ARGUES THAT A POLICY OF LIBERALIZATION STIMULATED A PROCESS OF LIBERALIZATION, WHICH IN TURN GENERATED A PROCESS OF DEMOCRATIZATION. HOWEVER, THIS HAS NOT BEEN CARRIED THROUGH TO ITS CONCLUSION BECAUSE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES PREVAILING WITHIN THE POLITICAL ELITE AND BECAUSE OF THE WEAKNESS OF MASS FORCES FAVORING A FULL-BLOODED PROCESS OF DEMOCRATIZATION.

In no domain of political science scholarship have we paid a higher price for our discipline's insistence on separating "American" and "Comparative" studies than in the domain of parties, and never has the error of our ways been more striking than now. Although we have readily consented to weave such terms as "globalism", "interdependence", and even "new world order" casually into our discourse, most of us have not seriously imagined that the momentous developments these terms summon to mind have serious meaning for the way we study our own political parties-nor have we made significant changes in the way we study the parties of others.

MUCH OF WOMEN'S POLITICAL ACTIVITY CANNOT BE ACCOMMODATED WITHIN TRADITIONAL POLITICAL SCIENCE SO NEW WAYS OF ANALYZING IT ARE NEEDED. IN ORDER TO CREATE A NEW FRAMEWORK, USING CASE STUDY MATERIAL FROM CHILE, SOME OF THE CONCEPTS EMPLOYED BY SOCIALIST FEMINISTS, PARTICULARLY THE PARTRIARCHAL BARGAIN AND STRATEGIC AND PRACTICAL GENDER INTERESTS, ARE EXPLORED. THESE SHED LIGHT ON WHY WOMEN MOBILIZE, BOTH FOR CONSERVATIVE AND FOR MORE PROGRESSIVE CAUSES. HOWEVER, THIS FRAMEWORK ALONE CANNOT BE MADE TO USE THE INSIGHTS OF POST-MODERNISM TO DO THIS. THE CONCLUSION IS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO UNITE THE MOST HELPFUL ASPECTS OF THE TWO PERSPECTIVES.

Two basic models of democracy -- majoritarian & consensus democracy -- should be distinguished, but there is a dangerous tendency among political scientists to define demcoracy almost exclusively in terms of majority rule. The majority-rule paradigm suffers from a serious contradiction between its theory & its practice. In theory, majority rule is usually regarded as the foremost defining criterion of democracy. In practice, strict application of majority rule is extremely rare. The survival of the biased paradigm can be explained in part by the special strength of political science in the Anglo-American countries with their high regard for British majoritarian practices & traditions. 1 Figure, 2 Photographs. AA