Suchergebnisse

'Modernization' is the progressive org of societies at the nat'l level in the context of an evolving global network of such societies. This formulation raises a number of questions, for example: how we think about change at the individual level in relation to societal change; contrasts between 'organic' & 'technological' evolution (borrowing the terms from the biologist G. Wald); & the causal relevance of a society's position in internat'l networks, & of the characteristics of those networks, to its modernization. The fundamental hypothesis is that the modernization of today's 3rd World countries-in the sense of their development as nat'l societies-is unlikely within the context of the Western-centered or capitalist portion of the internat'l pol'al economy. Moreover, our theories of modernization may well obscure the key problems of 3rd World development. HA.

This paper presents new evidence on how demography affects attitudes toward democracy and policy preferences. The empirical analysis disentangles age effects from cohort effects and separates their role from economic and political factors that shape political preferences in a given period, using survey responses for more than 200,000 individual observations from 90 countries. The results show that the support for democracy increases with age and, at the same time, depends on cohort-specific factors that are related to past experiences with democracy and socioeconomic status. The findings shed new light on the role of demography in terms of life-cycle and cohort effects for political attitudes.

Belgian parliamentary election returns (N = 143 cantons) & census data for 1961-1970 are analyzed to assess the relation between the support base of individual parties & the modernization level of the different regions, focusing on the status of nationalist vs unitarist parties. It is hypothesized that regional (ethnically defined) contrasts in sequence & rate of modernization have given rise to two forms of nationalism, one "cultural" & primarily based in Flanders, the other "economic" & centered in Wallonia, each reflecting nationalist party electoral support. While findings appear to support this hypothesis, they also indicate a less distinctively ethnic composition for each party as ethnic conflict escalated during this period. This development is interpreted in terms of (1) accommodative reactions on the part of established unitarian parties, & (2) attempts to widen the electoral support base within the nationalist parties themselves. 6 Tables. Modified HA.

"Modernization" is the progressive organization of societies at the national level in the context of an evolving global network of such societies. This formulation raises a number of questions, for example: how we think about change at the individual level in relation to societal change; contrasts between "organic" and "technological" evolution (borrowing the terms from the biologist Wald); and the causal relevance of a society's position in international networks, and of the characteristics of those networks, to its modernization. The fundamental hypothesis is that the modernization of today's Third World countries—in the sense of their development as national societies—is unlikely within the context of the Western-centered or capitalist portion of the international political economy. Moreover, our theories of modernization may well obscure the key problems of Third World development.

Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson, and Yared (2008) demonstrate that estimation of the standard adjustment model with country-fixed and time-fixed effects removes the statistical significance of income as a causal factor of democracy. We argue that their empirical approach must produce insignificant income effects and that a small change in the estimation process immediately reveals the strong effect of income on democracy.

SummaryRecent data do not demonstrate any trend away from consanguineous marriages in the urban Middle East. The continued observance of this preferential custom may correspond to the persistence of an archaic trait among urban dwellers; if this holds true, then one would expect consanguineous couples to conform more to the traditional family pattern than others. In order to test this hypothesis, 100 women married to a relative and 100 matched controls, selected from a hospital setting in Beirut, were interviewed with respect to their household type (nuclear/extended), residential pattern (proximity of parents and parents-in-law's residence to theirs), contacts with family and sex definitions. A substantial proportion of the respondents comply with the traditional norms prevalent in the Middle East (25–55%, according to the criterion), but no difference is detectable between cases and controls in this respect.

Urbanization was analyzed in quantitative terms using correlations between indicators contained in the cross-national time-series data file of State U New York. An attempt was made to establish longitudinal relationships between urbanization & modernization. A J. P. Gibbs index (see SA 1218/C5186), was constructed from data taken at 7-year intervals on 39 countries, which were politically independent from 1961-1970. Longitudinal patterns were established by forming a distance matrix & performing factor analysis on the matrix. 6 classes based on 2 types of grouping were formed: more urbanized & less urbanized nations, & city populations of over 20,000, over 50,000, & over 100,000. 2 urbanization trends were noted: (1) rapid growth in the more urbanized nation occurred during the last quarter of the 19th century while less urbanized nations did not experience similar growth until after WWII, & (2) cities over 50,000 & over 100,000 in population are expanding at substantially higher rates than are the cities under 50,000. 3 hypothetical relationships between urbanization & modernization were analyzed. Modernization was measured by levels of democratic performance, communications, education, & national government revenue & expenditure. R analysis confirmed 2 hypotheses: a threshold relationship between urbanization & modernization exists, & the threshold was reached sooner in more urbanized countries. The 3rd hypothesis was not confirmed; processes of modernization were not more strongly related to levels of urbanization at earlier points in time. 5 Tables, 1 Figure. S. Lupton.

Przeworski et al. (2000)challenge the key hypothesis in modernization theory: political regimes do not transition to democracy as per capita incomes rise, they argue. Rather, democratic transitions occur randomly, but once there, countries with higher levels of GDP per capita remain democratic. We retest the modernization hypothesis using new data, new techniques, and a three‐way rather than dichotomous classification of regimes. Contrary toPrzeworski et al. (2000)we find that the modernization hypothesis stands up well. We also find that partial democracies emerge as among the most important and least understood regime types.

In the article, the author suggests an approach to the conceptualization of modernization problems that interprets them in the light of intercultural interaction. This approach helps particularly clear up the limits and framework of westernization specifying and making more precise the typology of modernization. In applying the approach to the analysis of Japanese modernization, the author brings about a hypothesis concerning mechanisms of cultural adaptation. These mechanisms contributed to reproduce some segments of Western pattern of modernization without destroying indigenous form of rationality and values. The author also makes an attempt to single out a set of basic ideas of such mechanisms in Japanese spiritual tradition.

Soc, econ, & pol'al data from all 40 nations that have been independent of foreign domination during the past 40 yrs were grouped into each of 4 successive decades. Causal analysis supported the hypothesis that SE development produces increases in pol'al representation. A typology grouping nations by high (above 20%) or low literacy levels, & high or low econ security (level of soc insurance program development) produced 3 strata: 7 nations with low literacy & low security, 14 nations with high literacy & high security, & 19 nations with high literacy & low security. Examination of pol'al changes between decades (3 change periods) showed that both the low literacylow security & the high literacy-high security strata experienced very little change in pol'al representation during the past 40 yrs. Lack of change in the low literacy-low security stratum was primarily a function of low literacy levels, while the stability in the high literacy-high security stratum is a result of high security levels. A model to predict the growth or decline in representative pol'al structures, when applied to the high literacy-low security stratum (primarily Latin Amer nations) was supported. In this stratum the level of 'pol'al balance' at 'time 1,' & whether the nation experienced high or low literacy gains during the -change period, both contribute to its 'time 2' level of pol'al representation. AA.