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To assist those in comparative politics in assessing Marxist inquiry, the research-relevant assumptions and research practice of several Marxist orientations are described and compared to those of major Western intellectual currents (romanticism, empiricism, and rationalism). The match between specific Western currents and Marxist orientations is surprisingly straightforward. The Philosophic Marxists are found to share many elements with Western romanticism. The Materialist Marxists are shown to agree with most aspects of modern empiricism. The Structuralist Marxists and the Analytical Marxists are considered to be in agreement with contemporary rationalism on research-related questions. The Stalinist-inspired Deductivist Marxist have a contradictory view of research, which, nevertheless, shares important points with Western philosophical currents. On the topic of research, certain Marxists are found to be intellectually closer to non-Marxists who share their assumptions than they are to other Marxists who disagree with them on these matters.

FUNDAMENTAL VALUES, IN THE FORM OF PHILOSOPHICAL ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HUMAN NATURE ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO BE AS HELPFUL AS POLITICAL IDEOLOGY OF A LEFT-RIGHT CHARACTER IN UNDERSTANDING VIEWS ON THE PARTICIPATION OF THE DISADVANTAGED. WESTERN MARXISTS AND LIBERALS ARE BOTH OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HUMAN NATURE AND THEY FAVOR PARTICIPATION OF THESE GROUPS WHILE CONSERVATIVES AND MARXIST-LENINISTS ARE PESSIMISTIC ABOUT HUMANKIND AND DISCOURAGE IT. THE NEW RIGHT CHARACTERIZATIONS OF HUMAN NATURE ARE CONTRADICTORY AND THEIR ENTHUSIASM FOR THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF THE DISADVANTAGED CAN BE INTERPRETED AS EITHER A DEEPLY HELD EMOTIONAL COMMITMENT, OR MERELY ONE ELEMENT IN A CALCULATED ELECTORAL STRATEGY.

While it is often assumed that those of a left political conviction favor the increased political participation of the disadvantaged and those of a more conservative bent oppose it, examination of the views of five ideologically defined intellectual tendencies raises doubts about this conclusion. Political orientations of a left-right character are not consistently linked to issue positions on this question. In general, Liberals call for measures to increase the participation of the disadvantaged and Conservatives warn against such action. But New Right Conservatives, surprisingly, also seek to mobilize the disadvantaged, and generally favor their participation. Western Marxists often argue that the disadvantaged must actively participate in the struggle for social change while the Marxist-Leninists contend that to attribute such an active role to the disadvantaged could seriously threaten the entire socialist-communist project. Fundamental values, in the form of philosophical assumptions about human nature are hypothesized to be as helpful as political ideology of a left-right character in understanding views on the participation of the disadvantaged. Western Marxists and Liberals are both optimistic about human nature and they favor participation of these groups while Conservatives and Marxist-Leninists are pessimistic about humankind and discourage it. The New Right characterizations of human nature are contradictory and their enthusiasm for the political participation of the disadvantaged can be interpreted as either a deeply held emotional commitment, or merely one element in a calculated electoral strategy.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS -- LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES -- ABSTRACT -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY -- AUTHORS' NOTE -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Organization and governance -- 3. Financing -- 4. Physical and human resources -- 5. Provision of services -- 6. Principal health reforms -- 7. Assessment of the health system -- 8. Conclusions -- 9. Appendices -- INDEX