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This is an attempt to formulate a conditional model of coalition formation. Predictions from this model are tested against data on coalition formation in Dutch local government in 1982. Starting from a simple model of the behaviour of party politicians, it is assumed that the coalition behaviour of parties depends on the competitiveness of the (local) political system. The choice of a coalition strategy (minimizing size, minimizing policy range or proportional representation) is contingent upon two dimensions of the competitiveness of local politics. These are the amount of electoral volatility and the extent to which local election results follow national trends. Our conditional theory predicts different coalition behaviour in polities differing with regard to these two factors. Though the hypothesis was falsified, a more detailed analysis showed that (local) political competitiveness did make a difference in the choice of at least some of the coalition strategies. These differences, moreover, were in line with what was to be expected from the theoretical model.

John Stuart Mill's commitment to empirically based inductive logic shapes the political substance of his theory, limiting his ability effectively to make the argument he wishes to make.The Subjection of Womenis presented as a test case in which Mill wishes to argue for the justice and utility of the emancipation of women. His efforts are thwarted by his inability to argue from anything but an empirical basis, grounding his evidence in historical data which serve both to stereotype women's "good" qualities and to judge women's potential by what is observable from an admittedly unjust history.The essay reviews respected feminist analyses of Mill with an eye to establishing the natures and limitations of the various perspectives. It briefly discusses Mill'sSystem of Logicwhich provides a detailed example, in pure form, of the methodological problems he faces in theSubjection. The essay then considers the method and content ofThe Subjection of Women, arguing that the shortcomings of Mill's political analysis are the result of his efforts to cling to an impossibly "pure" empiricist methodology.

Proyecto de investigación "El Poder y la Palabra" del Seminario para la Investigación del Conflicto (S. I. C.), Departamento de Historia Contemporánea, Universidad de Extremadura. ; El discurso, el contacto directo con los gobernados o correligionarios, es un instrumento muy adecuado, y especialmente en la época contemporánea, para el poder político. Analizar y comprender el significado de los diferentes discursos a través de nuestro método de trabajo es fundamental para poder intentar la comprensión, tanto de periodos amplios de nuestra historia como de acontecimientos concretos, o la evolución de una determinada formación política o sector social. ; The speech, the direct contact with the governed or co-religionists, is a very appropriate instrument, and especially in the contemporary era, for political power. Analyzing and understanding the meaning of different discourses through our method of work is fundamental to be able to try to understand, both from broad periods of our history and specific events, or the evolution of a particular political formation or social sector. ; peerReviewed

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the most recent effort at regional integration in the Third World, is the first potential success for such endeavors among less developed countries (LDCs). Deficient in some of the neofunctional variables of regional integration, ECOWAS differs from similar LDC groupings. Its formation was the result of high-level political support. The terms and provisions of its treaty create a harmonious political environment for cooperation, and the community has so far been free of the conflicts that destroyed several similar LDC ventures. A quasi-supranational secretariat serves as a vanguard of integration by insulating technical issues from the politics of national interest. Nigeria, the major subregional actor, endeavors to make side payments (despite its economic difficulties), and a more conducive international environment has accompanied the changed attitude of France, the principal extraregional actor, from opposition to support. Despite some contrary forces, ECOWAS may become the Third World's first success in integration.

From Indira to Rajiv Gandhi, by Gilbert Etienne
The present situation in India is a curious one. On the one hand, the country is threatened by grave political dangers and, on the other, its economy is in rather healthy condition. The political System has deteriorated disturbingly due to mediocre politicians, corruption and sectarian violence as well as the quarrels between the central government and the States. The population continues to increase dangerously in spite of progress in family planning programmes. The education system is deteriorating. On the positive side, the government's pragmatic economic policy is giving encouraging results, the economy is opening up more and more to the outside world. India's foreign debt remains at an acceptable level, progress continues in agriculture and industry. In advanced regions, poverty is receding. The tragic death of Indira Gandhi underlines the gravity of the problems. However, let us not underestimate this country's powers of recovery, its reserves of talent and competence. The new prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, faces difficulties which are considerable but surmountable.

There has been a revival of interest in Charles Wright Mills by professional sociologists, who reject him because he was a political utopian, & by radical thinkers, who idealize him as an important purveyor of the US radical intellectual tradition. These two interpretations are critically examined in Irving L. Horowitz's C. Wright Mills: An American Utopian (see IRPS No. 20/83c00291) & Rick Tilman's C. Wright Mills: A Native Radical and His American Intellectual Roots (University Park, Pa, 1984). The difficulty of politically classifying Mills is stressed. Mills was an independent intellectual who utilized the classics & tools of social science to subject US society to an immanent critique from the normative viewpoint of liberal values: individualism, craftsmanship, & democratic publics. Mills was a classic liberal whose social critique was built from a theory of social rationalization that his own political generation had falsely identified as the achievements of modernity. Mills's work demonstrates the necessity & possibility of a publicly relevant sociology as both the ends & means of a society's normative traditions, critically reinterpreted as public dialogue. AA

A reply to Don Martindale's critique (see SA 33:2/85O7448). It is reiterated that liberal democracies should, in theory, have no war between them -- the less democratic two nations are, the more likely is violence between them. Furthermore, peace & justice are separate values, & social justice can best be defined in terms of the institutions of a free society. Reference is provided to over 25 years of research on the causes & conditions of violence relating to nations. Emphasis is placed on an extensive examination of war (back to 1816) & violence less than war in the current century. Nations (N not given) were rated for degree of democracy as measured in terms of citizens' civil liberties, political rights, & economic freedoms. In addition, examination of 67 published analyses empirically linking political systems & foreign violence supports the inverse relationship between democracy & violence. Martindale was correct in that there are pressing immediate problems threatening world peace; the solutions proposed were aimed at long-run implementation, not short-term solutions. K. Hyatt

Abstract. Henry George's Progress and Poverty, published a century ago, laid the foundation for a theory that attracted a worldwide following. He emphasized that political economy investigates the way a community produces wealth and the proportions in which that wealth will be distributed between individuals. In our day that has been called 'plutology', a subdiscipline of political economy. Many of George's critics, then and now, act as apologists of the status quo, in society and in the academy. But the science's purview must be broader than plutology. Economics, to be relevant, must be useful in the solution of economic and social problems. In redirecting economists to their basic responsibility, George made a lasting contribution to economic science. He also was a perennial influence on economic scholar, even on some of his most antagonistic critics. But George is neglected because his doctrines were and are a threat to various establishments. However, by force of logic and through clarity of expression, he is a goad to the consciences of all folk of good will.

Abstract: The establishment by the present Labor government of an advisory panel on ministerial staff appointments is discussed. It is suggested that this procedure had political benefits, but did not significantly influence the composition of the ministerial staff group. The ministerial staff of the ALP government are described and compared with those of the previous ALP government 1972‐75, and of the Liberal‐National Party coalition government 1975‐83. It is found that there has been a weakening of the bureaucratic element in this government's private offices compared with both the coalition government and the previous Labor government. The ascendance of "political types" is matched by a commitment to the party program and a high estimate among staffers of their contribution to the policy‐making process. In other respects this group shares with its predecessors the characteristics of being mostly male, relatively young, highly educated and disproportionately from non‐government schools. About half are from inside and half from outside the public service.

Successful public policy implementation is almost always problematic. Seismic safety policies are prone to implementation problems, and it is at least arguable that seismic safety policies may be more susceptible to implementation problems than some other policies. This paper focuses on efforts to implement seismic safety policies in thirteen local California communities. The most important aspects of seismic safety policy implementation in California are (1) the role of key governmental personnel, (2) the political environment surrounding the issue of seismic safety, and (3) the treatability of the issue itself. Given the way these three aspects interact, and because seismic safety is not an issue that generates consistent expressionis of organised public support, policy implementation will always falter unless a highly committed and motivated core of public officials diligently pursue implementation. Absent these personnel, the perceived intractability of the problem and lack of visible political rewards for supporting seismic safety make seismic safety a policy area prone to unsuccessful or incomplete implementation.

In the 1960s and 1970s, scholars interested in studying Latin American politics inevitably were drawn to the study of military coups d'etat and their causes. In the 1980s, a number of the countries in Latin America whose civilian political regimes were overthrown by military regimes may undergo or attempt to consolidate processes of democratization or redemocratization. Thus scholarly interest has tended to shift away from seeking to understand the causes for military overthrows of civilian regimes toward the study of prospects and processes of democratization or redemocratization in Latin America. In this context, the reexamination of earlier examples of durable transitions from authoritarian military regimes to civilian regimes may shed light on the relative importance of different factors in determining particular outcomes. This article carries out such a re-examination for the case of Colombia, analyzing the transition from rule by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (1953-1957) through the crucial period of the interim military junta (1957-1958) to the consociational National Front political regime.

The key to understanding of relief-giving is in the functions it serves for the larger economic and political order, for relief is a secondary and supportive institution. Historical evidence suggests that relief arrangements are initiated or expanded during the occasional out-breaks of civil disorder produced by mass unemployment, and are then abolished or contracted when political stability is restored. We shall argue that expansive relief policies are cyclical - liberal or restrictive depending on the problems of regulation in the larger society with which government must contend [Piven and Cloward, 1971]. It is about a search too, for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recogniton as well as cash, for astonishment rather than a torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying. Perhaps immortality, too, is part of the quest. To be remembered was the wish, spoken and unspoken, of the heroes and heroines of this book [Terkel, 1972: xiii].

For most North Americans demography is an esoteric subject more often tied to marketing than to social and political changes. In Latvia, as in most of Eastern Europe and the USSR, demography has long been placed on the forefront of public attention. This wave of attention in the case of Latvia is not a fad of short duration which will be readily displaced by other popular topics. On the contrary, demography has had, is having and will have a tremendous impact on a very broad range of policies and on the long term survival of the Latvian nation. Thus, in order to understand the social and ethnic tensions, the labour squeeze, and the welfare burden of Latvia, it is necessary to understand the multifaceted demographic processes: the real matrix of the political and social environment. This paper reviews the pivotal demographic role of the First and Second World Wars and analyzes population size, sex balance, age structure, urban-rural residence, nuptiality, birth and death rates, migration patterns and ethnic balance.

Die Wirkungsweise des Commonwealth als internationale Organisation wird erläutert und seine Rolle und Funktion bei der Etablierung einer neuen "Weltordnung" hervorgehoben. Zu den vorrangigenZielen der Organisation zählen die beschleunigte Entkolonialisierung und eine weltweite ökonomische und politische Stabilisierung. (AuD-Fsk)

By moving from the political to the social level, the Italian women's movement strengthens its transformative role, particularly as a modernizing force, to produce not only short-run political benefits but also long-range epochal ones. For a time, the feminist movement reacted to M discourse about women by mechanically inverting its terms; now feminism emphasizes feminine individuality & diversity. But in respecting the plurality within the gender, it refuses to urge a separate feminine culture. This view recognizes the oneness of history, but understands that M thought, partisan & rigid, has left much of history in silence & shadow. The distinctive contribution of feminism to the study of history is to combine traditional & extrarational methods. Already, women's culture has clarified the one-dimensional perversity in classical reason. It also has shown the narrowness of Karl Marx's vision that one entity, the proletariat, could be entrusted with the liberation of humanity, & has unveiled the importance of forms of oppression other than those based on SC, particularly sexual domination. Modified AA.