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The presence of left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) as well as its relationship with right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and conservative ideology was tested in three Flemish samples. In the first study conducted on a sample of ordinary voters (N = 208), a newly developed LWA scale was found to be internally consistent and to show high construct validity In the second study, another voter sample (N = 264) and a sample of political activists (N = 69) were tested. In the two samples of ordinary voters, only a few people obtained high LWA scores. Moreover, the aggression and submission items did not load on distinct components and LWA was positively related to RWA and cultural conservatism and negatively to economic conservatism. Conversely in the political activist sample high LWA scores were common among left-wing extremists and evidence was found for a two-dimensional LWA aggression-submission structure. LWA was negatively related to RWA, cultural conservatism, and economic conservatism. The concept of LWA and its theoretical underpinnings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been relatively little investigation of the effect of constitutional transformations on the economic transition in post-communist countries. We develop a simple signalling model in which constitutionalism – a commitment to limit political power and provide judicial defence of basic rights – reinforces the credibility of pro-market candidates’ electoral promises and boosts public support for economic reforms. These findings are tested using opinion poll data on public support for reform in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the former Soviet Union, in the 1990s. In a two-stage procedure we show that public support for market reforms is higher in countries where incumbents have taken deliberate steps to increase political accountability and judicial independence. Public support also spurs actual economic reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article represents a preliminary attempt to develop a culturally universal structural model of ideology. In Study 1, an indigenous model of Romanian ideology was developed. The structural model was created by converting 245 dictionary definitions of Romanian ideological concepts into questionnaire items. Using a sample of 420 Romanians, the most replicable structure indicated four broad dimensions that appeared to roughly correspond to the four factors in Saucier's (2000) American model of ideology. Study 2 replicated the structural model and compared it with existing ideological measures. Authoritarianism and traditional religiosity were a key component of the largest factor. Communism and some aspects of social dominance orientation were key components of the second largest factor. The findings may represent the beginnings of a culturally universal structure model of ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the domestic political consequences of “Europeanization.” This article seeks to focus on developing a framework by which the effects of Europeanization on the communist successor parties might be investigated and to initially examine that framework in light of the evidence presented by four “critical cases”—the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), the Party of Social Democrats of Romania (PDSR/PSD), and the Party of the Democratic Left in Slovakia (SDL). Using textual analysis of party programs to ascertain the identity of the parties, and examining their organizational structures, this article finds that Europeanization itself does not explain the evolution of political parties in post-communist politics. Rather, domestic political considerations play a more important role in shaping these parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the transition period in Hungary the role of the market has become more significant, and several market elements have appeared in education, as well. The growing social demand for schooling resulted in the huge expansion of secondary and higher education. Schools try to match the demand with the supply in a colourful variety of programmes. However, public education in Hungary struggles with very great problems of inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the end of the Cold War brought the transformation of the communist bloc, some states have resisted the ensuing wave of democratization. This study assumes that important mechanisms of continuity and change in communist states are situated in the belief systems of their leaders and that the years between 1985 and 1991 were a catalytic period. What did Fidel Castro of Cuba and Kim Il Sung of North Korea learn from the end of the Cold War? Their belief systems are examined prior to 1985 and after 1991, i.e., before and after the collapse of other communist regimes. If learning has occurred, it should be reflected in a comparison of their beliefs for these time periods. Our results from ANOVA analyses indicate that Fidel Castro engaged in some learning but Kim Il Sung did not. This finding is complemented by the results of a MANOVA analysis, which indicate that the end of the Cold War had only a modest impact on Fidel Castro and Kim Il Sung, independent of their specific personalities. We conclude by drawing attention to the ensuing debate between structural- and agent-level theorizing and by giving some suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses urban capitalisms as European models in competition. The fall of communism in the early 1990s blurred the global opposition between capitalism and socialism, which had broadly structured debates, and this in turn helped to bring to light real, though concealed, differences between countries in the capitalist bloc. Thus came a rediscovery of literature that put this type of differentiation at the heart of its analysis,, the historians of business in the United States, grouped around Chandler and the French Regulation School. These schools have strongly established the major differences between an Anglo-American version of capitalism, financial, and oriented towards a service economy, and a German and Japanese industrial capitalism based on different wage relations and on different coordination mechanisms. But all of them did so essentially through studying the nature of industry and finance.

The orthodoxy in South and North Korean historiography states that Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910 wrought havoc on indigenous economic development and started an era of exploitation lasting until 1945. Recent studies show the claim to be based less upon facts than upon Marxist dogma and nationalist sentiment. During the nineteenth century, Korea was not on the verge of modern economic growth, but in demographic and economic decline. Living standards improved and industrialisation occurred in the context of rapid population growth during the colonial period due to transfer of capital and advanced technology from Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

, ) theoretical constructs of Exit and Voice represent a useful way to think about citizenship. Exit refers to a desire to emigrate and can be construed as apolitical, private, and passive—a threat to citizenship—whereas Voice refers to political commitment and can be construed as ideal citizenship. A survey of 560 Bulgarian university students in 1998 explored their emphasis on Exit and Voice (as options for themselves in the future) and the association of each option with different economic, political, and psychological factors. One in four students wanted to emigrate, and half of them considered leaving the country for a period of time. Exit plans appeared mainly to be triggered by a wish to participate in the consumer culture, but were also associated with a critical view of the political system as well as a rejection of tradition in conjunction with a Western identity. Although most of the students shared vague or ideal Voice-related plans, few wanted to become actively involved in politics. An emphasis on Voice reflected not only a somewhat limited political engagement but also a more traditionalistic attitude associated with plans for a career and family. The findings indicate that a normative separation between Exit and Voice as theoretical concepts does not cover the complexities of the Bulgarian students’ emigration and political involvement plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines key issues on the coordination of economic systems and economic development. Aspects of economic planning under social democracy and communism; Social, political and cultural context of economic planning; Development of a political economy relevant to the governments of market economies for the 21st century.

The textiles, clothing and footwear (TCF) industry is a labour intensive industry, strongly determined by globalization and easy relocation to low-cost countries. Hence also in the European Union this industry is relatively more important in the low-wage regions of the EU-Southern periphery. With the envisaged enlargement, however, these countries fear a further shift of the sector to Central and Eastern Europe as these countries still have a comparative advantage in terms of low labour costs. The present article investigates whether this fear is justified, looking at three main aspects: first at the position and history of the TCF sector in the European Union and its role in the EU periphery, second at the sector in the Central and Eastern accession countries, and third at gobalization issues. The second aspect is dealt with in great detail, as development trends in the Central and East European countries are important and telling. Much has happened during the 15-year (and more) period between the collapse of communism and the EU membership in this region, most important the integration to the EU by the means of trade, in particular outward processing trade. These developments mainly seem to determine future trends in an enlarged Europe. Overall however, future prospects have to be seen in a global context, strongly influencing the sector via changes in global trade policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars and practitioners have tried to draw the link between the emergence and growth of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society in developing and transitional societies. While the literature on the role of NGOs in development is extensive, there is very little attention to the evolution of NGOs in the few remaining communist countries, even though China and Vietnam also display the development of indigenous NGOs. Some of the major political and operational issues concerning the evolution of NGOs in developing countries, especially their relationship with the state and, more broadly, the evolution of civil society, are magnified in one-party states. This article describes deeper cultural forces that predate both the colonial and communist periods in Vietnam that shaped the evolution of state-led civil society during the latter part of the 20th century. We argue that the cultural factors outlined are not necessarily appreciated by western donor models of NGOs in development, especially state-led formation of civil society. The article draws conclusions about the implications of our analysis for international donors who have an interest in facilitating the maturation of local NGOs in Vietnam. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article profiles economic historian Mark Blaug. Blaug was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in the Netherlands, where his father was a successful raincoat manufacturer, the Raincoat King of the Netherlands. Following high school, Blaug attended New York University, where he quickly became an avowed Marxist. The Marxist theory that economic interests and economic forces are the foundations of all social and political conflicts led Blaug to the study of economics, and to a rapid abandonment of his Marxist view. He graduated from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1950 and began Doctor of Philosophy work at Columbia. In 1962, still considering himself a European, Blaug joined the London Institute of Education as a professor in the new field of economics of education, a position he held for twenty-three years. Besides history of economic thought, Blaug also studies economic methodology. In 1980 he published The Methodology of Economics, or How Economists Explain. 16 In his autobiography, he describes himself as an unregenerate Popperian, 17 an adherent of Karl Popper's concept of predictionism, that is, the idea that theories must ultimately be judged by the accuracy of their prediction.

In 1990 the former communist trade unions in Russia adopted a programme of social partnership, the aim of which was to defend their members’ interests during transition while also maintaining social peace. But critics of social partnership within the union movement argue that it amounts to little more than an excuse for inaction. To examine whether social partnership represents a departure from the collaborationist habits of the Soviet past, I examine 33 case studies of conflict at enterprise level conducted between 1999 and 2000. This analysis reveals considerable continuity with Soviet practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the emergence of the Maoist revolutionary movement in Nepal. Launch of the so-called People's War by the Nepalese Maoist Party; Reason for the gradual weakening of the royal power in Nepal; Incident of regicide in the country; Elaboration on the political history in the country.

This article argues that the work of Martin Heidegger is extremely important in understanding Henri Lefebvre's intellectual project. It suggests that Lefebvre's trio of influential thinkers—Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche—are partnered by Heidegger. But this is Heidegger read in a particular way, and subjected to a Marxist critique—turned back on his feet, grounded, made real. This is pursued in detail through a rereading of Lefebvre's The Production of Space. The two terms in this title need to be examined, and while the importance of space develops a number of insights from Heidegger, the stress on production shows the political and Marxist nature of this research. The Production of Space is therefore situated, and needs to be read, between Marx and Heidegger. The article closes with some comments on the interrelation of history, space and politics, and offers the possibility of a left-Heideggerianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criticizes the literary works written in English by Asian authors and published in 2002. Impact of India's celebration of its 50th year of independence on the books published during the year; Analysis of several books about the role of women in India's history; Introduction of political reforms by the communist government in China.

This article explores the political marginalisation of the Melbourne Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism during the Cold War. Attention is drawn to contending views about the nature of the Council's links with communism. By comparing the Council's response to two coinciding international events during 1952 and 1953 - the anti-Jewish show trials in Stalinist Eastern Europe, and the Rosenberg spy trial in the USA - evidence is derived confirming the dominance of communist influence within the Jewish Council at that time. In order, I examine the Australian Jewish political context in which the Council operated and its relations with the wider Jewish community prior to the Cold War; explore rival arguments concerning the Council's links with communism and the Australian Communist Party; examine the major features of Stalinist anti-Semitism and the Council's response to them; recount the Council's reaction to the Rosenberg Spy Trial and Doctors Plot; and conclude that the Council lost influence because it fell under the control of a pro-Soviet group unwilling to recognise and attack anti-Semitism on the political left. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although post-communist Europe retains elements of its socialist past, public opinion shows discernment in its welfare preferences. This analysis of post-communist social welfare attitudes finds that post-communist societies are selective in their support for social policies. First, welfare preferences center on two underlying realms: government responsibility and government spending; and second, welfare opinions and beliefs are not uniform across several social policies. Although many of the conclusions highlight the selective nature of these preferences, the example of the support for unemployment benefits points to how the transition from communist-era welfare states to capitalist-led assistance continues to influence public opinion in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the political and social changes in marxism. Relationship between marxism and empire; Globalization of empire; Social and political features of the empire.

The Catholic Church could not compromise with Communist states due to ideological incompatibility between atheist Marxism-Leninism and religious beliefs. Christianity, in the perception of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), had been closely linked with "foreign cultural imperialism" This study examines the clash of authority between the CCP and Catholic Church over seminary training, elucidating the CCP's desire to retain institutional and ideological control over this particular sector of Chinese society. The findings highlight the ideological conflict between the dialectic materialism of the CCP, combined with the economic materialism (i.e., to get rich is glorious) mentality of the Deng Xiaoping-Jiang Zemin era, and religious idealism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features the life and political career of Anglo-American writer Henri Lefebvre in Great Britain. Comments of Lefebvre on the 'new state form'; Influence of Marxism on Lefebvre; Social democracy and state mode production.

The article examines the implications of scholarship depicting the diverse experience of men and women from different classes, race and ethnicities, by comparing and contrasting its core assumptions with those of both Marxism and postmodernism. In sociology this scholarship depicting the diverse experiences of men and women from different classes, races, and ethnicities is often referred to as race, gender, and class analysis. This new approach was spawned, in part, by the civil rights movement, the modem women's movement, and the rise of the New Left with the anti-Vietnam War movement. Not only did these social movements heighten awareness of race, gender, and class oppressions locally and globally, but they also called for scholarship that had emancipatory goals, highlighting the relationship between theory and political praxis. However, both the relationship between knowledge and power and the relationships among these various forms of oppression proved far more complicated than was initially apparent. In the1960s and 1970s conflict theory was the major sociological paradigm that tried to address these inequalities by race, gender, and class. However, by the 1980s many conflict theories came under attack for their tendency to hierarchicalize oppressions and to view one form of oppression as more fundamental than others.

This article presents information on new democracies and American Constitutional Design. The victory of liberal democracy after 1989 was also the triumph of the original American idea of constitutionalism. In the more than twenty new democracies that emerged after the fall of Communism, written Constitutions were drafted and ratified. Most were formulated as legally binding documents with the requisite forms of enforcement through constitutional review. These constitutions were designed to establish new forms of democratic power and guarantee the adherence of the branches of power to consensually agreed upon rules of the political game and their respect for the fundamental individual rights. To understand the impressive nature of this development, one should recall that European constitutions in the nineteenth century which rarely constituted a whole machinery of government. They were little more than symbolic declarations without any machinery of enforcement outside of popular or parliamentary protest.

The events of 1989 in Eastern Europe represented an alliance between two dynamics: anti-Soviet and anti-communist. Once the "double rejective" task of the revolution was complete, these dynamics began to diverge as the space created for freedom filled with the competing demands of nationalism and civil society. Building freedom in Eastern Europe today is associated with overcoming the economic and social dislocation inherited from communism and developing the institutions and attitudes required for a civil society. But it is confronted above all by the attractions of a tribal nationalism which threaten the entire project of creating an open society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using New Theories of state-society relations under Communism, this article focuses on changes made to Nowa Huta's street and settlement names in 1957 as a result of de-Stalinization, and on opinions expressed by town residents in anticipation of these changes in a public opinion survey. These events may be viewed as a dialogue between rulers and ruled, in which toponymy serves as a symbolic medium for the projection of conflicting visions of Poland's past and future. [Poland, Nowa Huta, place names, new towns, public opinion] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a relatively short period of time, Romanian political science has made considerable progress, moving from virtual obscurity to unchallenged local prominence. This article examines the efforts to date to institutionalize political science as a separate teaching and research discipline by presenting recently established political science university-level programs, the major groups of authors carrying out research on political phenomena and the recurrent themes emerging from relevant literature. Though the present article is concerned mainly with current developments, occasional references to the political science's position during the communist period are also made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the film `Ermo,' directed by Zhou Xiaowen, and its depiction of the new rural Chinese economy. Comparison of the chief's character to a deposed communist cadre and how he copes with the new privatized China; Modern technology as source of life's complications; Reflection of factional power struggles and competition for scarce resources in the film `Looking for Fun.'

A conception of money as a 'neutral veil' masking a 'real' economy was adopted by orthodox economic theory after the Methodenstreit, and is also to be found, in a different form, in Marxian political economy. Both derive from an erroneous functionalist and anachronistic 'commodity' theory of money which, as Post-Keynesian economists argue, cannot explain the distinctive form of capitalist credit-money. Orthodox economic theory and classic Marxism have tacitly informed and flawed historical sociology's understanding of money's role in capitalist development. Mann and Runciman, for example, consider the 'economy' exclusively in terms of the social relations of production and imply that money is epiphenomenal and is to be explained as a response to the needs of the 'real' economy. They do not recognize the structural specificity of capitalist money and banking nor its importance. An alternative account of the autonomous historical conditions of existence of the specifically capitalist form of bank and state credit-money and its role in capitalist development is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illustrates why civil society remains an important concept in studying the political transformation of Eastern Europe. Significance of civil society to political science; Use of the concept of civil society in evaluating social critical theory; Discussion on the theories advanced by several political scientists.

This article informs that one of the great virtues of democratic capitalism is that it is hospitable to any form of economic organization, the solo proprietor, the several kinds of partnership, the non-profit corporation, the producer and consumer cooperative, even the communist commune, and finally the several types of corporation. If the modern private, for profit corporation has predominated, it is because it has won out in the marketplace. They discuss critical issues regarding the moral behavior of corporate executives and policy makers in society, in the corporation and as individual citizens. In our a-moral society, no study is more practical. We cannot achieve the good society until we achieve a just one.

The purpose of this article is, first, to examine how Marx's theory contributes to an understanding of' uneven rural development and, second, to use a historical case study of uneven capitalist development in cotton production in the American South during the period from 18701930 to inform the theory and to provide a better understanding of some of the obstacles to the capitalist development of agriculture. Through a comparative, regional analysis, some of the social, historical, and technical factors that accounted for this uneven development are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the tradition of Western Marxism-focusing upon key differences between Antonio Gramsci and the Frankfurt School-in an effort to suggest what it is about this tradition that accounts for its widespread appropriation in contemporary Christian political thought. The work of the Frankfurt School and Gramsci is representative of the shift within Marxism toward a concern with the politics of consciousness, the political-ideological role of intellectuals, the relation of theory and praxis, and the theorization of domination in advanced capitalist societies. These are concerns that serve as a bridge between Western Marxism and the Christian political ethics of such writers as Jose Miguez Bonino, Cornel West, and Charles Davis. Yet there remain important differences between the Frankfurt School and Davis on the one hand and Miguez Bonino, West, and Gramsci on the other. These differences can be seen in their divergent understandings of the nature and purpose of thought and in their divergent analyse of the relation between the state and civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although international agreements require states to protect refugees from persecution, frequently national security interests lead them to exclude refugees from justice. The problem is illustrated by the U.S. government's policy of denying asylum to Haitian refugees. By prejudging Haitians to be ‘economic migrants,’ denying them access to fair hearings of their asylum applications, and deporting them to Haiti, U.S. government officials have deprived Haitian refugees of just treatment. These actions appear to have been motivated by national security interests, particularly the U.S. alliance with the Haitian government against communism. The unjust treatment of Haitians, who were the first large nationality group to seek asylum in the United States, has set a pattern that has been applied to other groups of refugees fleeing persecution by governments allied with the United States. Assuring that the United States would fairly adjudicate asylum applications would require institutional separation of the adjudication process from the management of foreign affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National survey questions have been asked in the United States about the Soviet Union since 1937. with repeated use of standard global favorability questions by Gallup since 1953 and by NORC since 1974. Americans expressed declining negativity toward the Soviets from 1953 until 1974, then rising hostility until 1982–1983. with another decline between 1983 and 1988. Problems in interpreting such survey data are discussed, including discrepancies between closed and open questions. Although closed questions elicit generally negative attitudes, there is reason to question their salience and depth, just as Stouffer (1955) did in interpreting attitudes toward domestic communists during the McCarthy period. Survey data are used to explore two plausible theories about anti-Soviet attitudes in the United States: that such attitudes are (a) primarily ideological, reflecting hostility toward socialism and communism as social systems, or (b) that they are mainly a function of U.S. nationalism, indicating that the Soviets are viewed as national rivals in a competition for world dominance. The available data, although far from adequate to the task, seem more consistent with the nationalism explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groups of "constricted" (N = 59) and "nonconstricted" (N = 49) individuals were selected from a New York City survey sample on the basis of three personality scores: anger expression-retention, independence-yielding, and anomie. Civil liberties attitude dimensions were then obtained for each group. Contrary to hypothesis the two groups did not differ on measures of cognitive complexity derived from the factor structures for their civil liberties attitudes, but the nonconstricted group was more tolerant than the constricted group on several dimensions. When controlled for demographic variables, the differences in tolerance held only for a dimension dealing with admitted Communists. Thus, even though the constricted may be less tolerant, for the multidimensional domain of civil liberties attitudes constricted individuals do not have simpler cognitive structures than nonconstricted individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses author James R. Prickett's view on the role of the Communist Party in the United States labor movement. Nature of the internal controversy in Nonferrous Metals Industry Unionism; Technique of guilt by association; Alliance between Socialists and gangsters to defeat the Communists; Debate at the 1941 United Mobile Workers' Convention; Communists' propaganda against blacks.

This article presents information related to the process of economic planning in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia in the 1930s. The economy of the Soviet Union is distinguished from that of capitalist economies by having both public ownership of property and centralized economic planning. This two-dimensional classification gives rise to questions about intermediate cases, particularly now that the Soviet economy is in the process of change. Economies with public ownership of property but not planning have been analyzed under the label of market socialism. actual socialist planning in the 1930s was closer to military mobilization than the market socialism of western theorists or postwar Yugoslavia. Although not a new view, this conclusion has dropped out of recent discussions of the Soviet economy and needs reemphasis. Second, the Nazi economy shared many characteristics with the dominant socialist economy of the time. The National Socialists were socialist in practice as well as in name. It is a mistake to think that the Soviets were in control of their economy, while the Nazis were not. Both economies were subject to the confusions that follow from implementing new and untried ideas. They were prey to the vagaries of large and chaotic bureaucracies.

This article discusses the influence of the author Henry George's works on former Chinese political leader Sun Yat-Sen. Sun Yat Sen played a major role in modern Chinese political history. He helped to overthrow the monarchy in 1911-12, was the first president of the new Chinese republic and was a major founder of the Kuomintang as a powerful political organization, which combined communist and non-communist elements. George's references to China were not mere idle flattery, they helped to identify the problem. George stressed that this great civilization had experienced a rise and fall, which is the universal rule. The author of the article have stressed Henry George's direct references to China, his strong condemnation of imperialism, his dislike of the Malthusian theory, his strong criticism of contemporary capitalism and his vision of the better world which could be achieved by proper policies. In some instances, Sun followed George's lead directly. There were major differences, Sun favored tariff protection, reacting against the free trade policy, which had been forced on China by imperialist action from the western powers.

Henry George, the American economist and social philosopher, considered it an anomoly that, under modern industrial conditions, progress and poverty should march together. He recognized that the juxtaposition of wealth and want was a worldwide phenomenon and traced its cause to monopoly, particularly the monopoly of land and natural resources. Realizing that current taxes on consumption and production were disincentives to capital and labor, he proposed that governments tax the only true surplus, economic rent, through land value taxation This would enable the people to reassert their common title to the land-the earth. His message was accorded a more favorable reception abroad than at home. Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital in England but it was George, not Marx, who appealed to the British workers. Yet it was Marxism that swept half the world into State socialism, conquering by political power and bayonet-Leninism while George's followers pursued the democratic approach of public education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When nearly 1,000 American men, women and children lost their lives in a mass murder and suicide rite in 1978 staged by a madman, Jim Jones, a former Christian minister turned Communist leader, many Americans asked, "Why?" The press, overcoming earlier lethargy, amassed facts permitting a sophisticated psychological and sociological explanation. Neglected, however, was the question why was the Jonestown Communist utopia sited in the Guyana jungle? Given the human and geographical circumstances, its siting in the Guyana rain forest was highly probable, affording evidence that, to some extent, at least, people and their geography determine human events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent trends in historical scholarship view askance the reformers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Analyses, which range from the Pluralism of a Richard Hofstadter to the neo-Marxism of a James Weinstein or Gabriel Kolko differ markedly, yet contain similar viewpoints about the worth of a variety of American reform movements. Status anxieties, naive urges for capitalistic efficiency, racialist assumptions, and individual psychological make-ups, are imputed to the reformers of the Populist and Progressive eras. It is alleged that they failed to understand the forces of industrialization, and in time capitulated to the corporate powers that they apparently opposed. It is possible that by concentrating too strongly on the alleged failures of varied reformers, there is some misunderstanding of their accomplishment. The career of the businessman-reformer, Nelson Olsen Nelson, can sharpen one's awareness of those times, which gave various reform urges scope. It can trace a curve of acceptability, and provide a gauge for changing perceptions of debate and action. Nelson's persistent cooperative endeavors shed light on a complex strand of American reform, which has survived to play a continuing role in the formation of the world.

Regime change is closely connected to elite change, although classical theories of elite rule would predict considerable elite continuity. The basic question is how the downfall of communist regimes and introduction of democracy have affected elite patterns in the three Baltic states. The data indicate a combination of continuity and change: circulation of indigenous elites has taken place, while Russians are excluded from power in important state institutions. Elite continuity is explained by lack of "alternative elites" and a need for competent leaders in the state building process. Elite change is explained by ethnic cleavages which raise the issue of indigenous control over power positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses neo-Weberian revolution. Social scientists, have long appreciated Max Weber, sociologist and neo-Weberian is a term that can be applied to many thinkers over the nearly three-quarters of a century since Weber's death. Moreover, it has been well known for decades that disenchanted Marxists often find suitable bourgeois refuge in Weber. But what have been witnessed in the last ten years or so is something much more dramatic, something characteristic of a very large segment of sociology. Rather than an attempt to replace Karl Marx, sociologist with Weber, the neo-Weberian revolution is a widespread move toward reappropriating and extending Weberian theoretical categories by thinkers who, for the most part, continue to see great value in Marxism. One fundamental characteristic of the neo-Weberian revolution is that the Max Weber being embraced is a rather new one, Weber the idealist, the Parsonian Weber, has been replaced by Weber the conflict theorist. Some of the most recent contributions to neo-Weberianism show it to be a mixed bag. If in regard to the state and the geopolitical arena neo-Weberianism advances the understanding in an important way, with respect to a solid theory of historical change it is still not up to Marxism's standards.

The original young Turks, political reformers and ardent nationalists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gave a term that for some time has had a wide and varied usage. In America, voices of young Turks have often been heard and sometimes heeded, in political parties, Congress, labor unions, professional and scholarly organizations. Frequently young Turks are taken to be merely youthful dissenters or youngsters on the rise. In the 1970s, Marxism and neo-Marxism flourished in history and the social sciences, especially among graduate students and young academics. Marxist sociologists are young Turks only in a restricted sense. The main target of their revolt lies in the area of scholarship, not in the organizational status quo. In research and theoretical writings they are bent to demonstrate the scientific validity of a Marxist approach and to challenge opposing conceptions and findings.

The article seeks to articulate and evaluate the ethical theories concerning the nature of commitment, action, and the justification or condemnation of violence, expressed in essays by French political/ethical theorists, Albert Camus and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. According to Camus, the pervasiveness of crimes of logic emanates from the movement of rebellion or revolt. Camus advocates a profound concern for the ethics of action. Ponty relates his theory of revolution and social change with Marxism.

The article focuses on the development of political science in Croatia. It describes the origins and development of political science as a social science discipline. It also analyzes the region's institutional development and comments on its other relevant activities. The author reveals the fundamental change in the state and in the political environment meant for Croatian political science. He also examines the challenges, problems and opportunities of democracy and independence following the 1990 fall of communism and collapse of Yugoslavia.

The article discusses the transformation of the political system in Poland from communism to socialism. The author examines the book entitled "Solidarity" that was published in 1985 which focuses on issues related to the country's political, social and economic development. It states that the declaration of martial law on December 13, 1981 has brought various problems in the development of criminal law as well as offered challenges in achieving economic development. It was inferred that the implementation of socio-political system in the country had been widely rejected in the mid-1980s. It shows that the political transformation from communism to social democracy posed various problems towards the country's political system.

During the 1970s the Italian Communist Party had, contrary to the preceding decades, extremely variable electoral results. In this article, trends in the communist vote in the 1970s are studied, through an ecological analysis of electoral results in the Italian provinces. It also takes into account the organizational presence of the party and the socioeconomic characteristics of the electorate. The central thesis is that in the 1970s the Communist vote is different from both previous and subsequent results not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, in as much as it is characterized by different connotations and explanatory factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]