Suchergebnisse

The new social movements characteristic of postindustrial societies have raised a number ofnovel issues, in particular environmental ones. The positions which groups in these societies take on these issues, however, is far from clear. The paper examines three perspectives on the problem: traditional class, new middle class, and transitional disequilibrium. Data/rom a western New York community are used to examine citizen positioning on three eco-factors-environmental protectionism, deep ecology, and limits-to-technology. The two class perspectives perform poorly but the disequilibrium perspective proves useful. Cluster analysis yields a five-group indicator which is significantly related to all the environmental factors. Two associated property vectors, democratic-party affiliation and education, help accountfor intersectoral distances on the eco- factors. The implications for researchand practice are discussed

Studies on the Japanese news media indicate that the people's right to know is generally respected. But numerous reports also suggest that media behaviour falls short of the ideal. These considerations suggest that among people who work in the Japanese media, some are more censorious than others, which in turn raises the question why. The author formulates a set of hypotheses about the determinants of censorship among Japanese media people, then test the hypotheses with data from a 1999 survey. He points out that belief in democracy reduces censorship. (DÜI-Sen)

'Militarization and Demilitarization in El Salvador's Transition to Democracy' by Philip J. Williams and Knut Walter is reviewed.

Why do citizens with a common interest in providing a public good fail to act on that interest? Private‐rationality theory maintains that individuals are most concerned with private goods and will tend to ride free on the efforts of a few activists. Other theorists contend that citizens are public‐interested and therefore a collective rationality can override individualistic concerns. Empirical research, however, has yet to compare the two theories in a single design. This paper examines the two perspectives with data from a protest movement against a nuclear waste facility. The findings offer little support for private‐rationality theory. Few opponents of the facility rode free, and variables for private rationality failed to predict participation. Instead, participation was extensive and variables for collective rationality were significantly related. Solidarity, political alienation, ideology, and political interest had a positive effect on protest. The study validates recent scholarly attempts to de‐economize and re‐socialize political analysis.