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Various social and political developments seem to sum up to a process of 'de-civilization' which impede - rather than facilitate - the project of a humane and democratic society. In order to make this project a successful one it is necessary to reclaim citizens as politically acting subjects. The ability to act as enlightened and autonomous citizens will be sustainably acquired by experiencing extensive participation in society and in politics. Civic education should foster this process of 'revi-talization of citizenship' by offering youth meaningful participatory experiences of social and po-litical relevance. That is: Civic education should create, organize and offer learning strategies that are oriented towards the notion of reflective acting as experiential learning. Experiential learning processes, aimed at the sustainable acquisition of competencies which are relevant in politics and civil society, will particularly unfold in the course of the (inter)active dealing of the individual(s) with the authentic political and social problems and processes that surround and concern them. This also includes reflection and co-operation. One example of how to practice an experiential and prob-lem-centred learning strategy is well being demonstrated by the civic education program "Projekt: Aktive Bürger", the German adaptation of "We the People . Project Citizen" designed by the American Center for Civic Education.

The lack of formal diplomatic relations between Cuba & the US for 40 years deserves an explanation. Falcoff's article elucidates this odd situation based on five aspects that he considers to have defined US policy toward Cuba: inertia, property claims, historic grudges, basic values, & domestic politics. Inertia refers to the long-lasting US confrontational policy toward Cuba despite the establishment of Interest Sections in both Washington & Havana, & the signature of agreements between the two governments. Secondly, property claims will represent a hurdle -- aggravated by the Helms-Burton Act -- as long as a compensation formula acceptable to both parties is not reached. Historic grudges are obviously the result of an extremely complex relationship between the two countries well before the 1959 revolution & that has been somehow recuperated by Castro's government. Basic values are still a source of conflict: what is at stake is not only a clash between communism & democracy, human rights & free markets, but also US hegemony. Finally, the Cuban-American community represents undoubtedly a key element to understand domestic politics. This community, however, as well as the American public & even some segments of US government have gradually adopted a more flexible view toward Cuba. Inevitably, Cuba & the US will have to normalize relations in the future, & Falcoff concludes by speculating about this eventuality. Adapted from the source document.

"This chapter argues that for the EU to be successful cultural integration through public communication and deliberation of European matters is an important precondition. Three models of Europeanization of political communication are discussed: the emergence of a 'pan-European public sphere', 'segmented transnational public spheres', and the 'Europeanization of the national public sphere'. We argue that only the latter is able to provide for the opportunity of all citizens to become involved in a public debate on European issues. Our study aims to investigate the extent to which German media have become Europeanized. The empirical analysis examines the discourse on Europe in the editorials of national quality papers. The findings show that the media under study devote only a very small portion of their attention to European issues, thus marginalizing Europe to an extent that is not warranted by the significance of the European level of governance. If the media do focus on European issues they predominantly address them in terms of national politics, which we interpret as a 'domestication' of Europe in public discourse. At the same time, the media unanimously support the idea of European integration. We conclude that this pattern of communicating Europe reflects the élite consensus on European matters in Germany and may have contributed to the alienation of the general public from European politics." (author's abstract)

The relationship of trust or distrust that binds citizens to politics is nurtured by a range of factors, which depend on the social position of citizens, the undermining of their interests by public policies, and their normative perception of the political world. Using qualitative material provided by discussion groups of somewhat politicized French citizens, this paper identifies the common arguments for political trust and mistrust. What the members of the discussion groups say expresses a relationship to politics that has been built up endogenously with a highly normative dimension, and which demonstrates an argumentative capacity based on various principles. ; Le rapport de confiance ou de défiance unissant les citoyens à la politique se nourrit d'une variété de facteurs relatifs à la position sociale des citoyens, à la mise en cause de leurs intérêts par les politiques publiques comme à leur perception normative de l'univers politiques. En se fondant sur un matériel qualitatif composé de groupes de discussion réunissant des citoyens français faiblement politisés, cette contribution vise à cerner les motifs argumentatifs de la confiance et de la défiance politique. Leurs propos expriment un rapport au politique construit de façon endogène, à dimension fortement normative et manifestant une capacité argumentative fondée sur différents types de principes.

Even in late 1956, dissatisfaction with the US had clearly revived the idea of European integration, & in Jan 1957, the French held a parliamentary debate to promote support of negotiations for a European common market (the European Economic Community [EEC]). During the debate, a leftist deputy suggested that the strong foreign policies of US President (General) Dwight D. Eisenhower constituted good reason for such a plan, especially in light of Europe's obvious weakness in world power demonstrated by the Suez Canal crisis. Further, there was also a proposal for a Free Trade Area that would include all members of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). The establishment of a European common market is perhaps the most celebrated event in post-WWII European history. Understanding it is essential to understanding the character of European integration & its impact on global politics. This paper analyzes the politics of European trading & monetary arrangements, considers the role of geopolitical considerations in driving the integration process even before the Suez crisis, & retraces the French & German decisions to establish the common market in the second half of 1956. While the Suez crisis may have brought the issue to a head, key decisions were based on long-term policy goals determined during this timeframe. J. Stanton

"In general, the policy domain of old-age pensions is characterized by institutional continuity and only incremental reforms. Since the late 1980s, in Germany a series of public pension reforms, all initiated in view of imminent population aging, have happened. In this paper it is looked into the process and content of reforms legislated between 1989 and 2001 in order to understand the nature of change and its driving forces. The main question to be answered is whether these single reform steps eventually amounted to a 'path departure'. Despite the reforms the public pension scheme will continue to be the central component of retirement income for the next decades to come, and traditional features of that social insurance program remained intact. However, it can no longer be regarded as a coherent and undisputed policy paradigm: pension politics has become increasingly conflictuous, and the scope of policy-making has widened from public pension policy (parametric reforms concerning a tighter contribution-benefit link, prolonged working life, adjustment formulae etc.) to retirement income policy. Thereby some of the public scheme's established principles have been abandoned, non-public components of retirement income are pushed and new actors become involved in the politics of pensions. It is thus justified to speak of a paradigmatic change that has occurred." (author's abstract)

Books reviewed in this article:Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere ElseArun Agrawal and K. Sivaramakrishnan (eds), Agrarian Environments: Resources, Representation and Rule in India>Florence E. Babb, After Revolution: Mapping Gender and Cultural Politics in Neoliberal NicaraguaRichard Meyer and Geetha Nagarajan, Rural Financial Markets in Asia: Policies, Paradigms, and Practice. Study of Rural Asia, Volume 3Paul B. McGuire, John D. Conroy and Ganesh B. Thapa, Getting the Framework Right: Policy and Regulation for Microfinance in AsiaNavroz K. Dubash, Tubewell Capitalism: Groundwater Development and Agrarian Change in GujaratAnanta Kumar Giri (ed.), Rethinking Social Transformation: Criticism and Creativity at the Turn of the MillenniumTor A. Benjaminsen and Christian Lund (eds), Politics, Property and Production in the West African Sahel: Understanding Natural Resource ManagementLiz Alden Wily and Sue Mbaya, Land, People and Forests in Eastern and Southern Africa at the Beginning of the 21st Century: The Impact of Land Relations on the Role of Communities in Forest FutureA. Wood, P. Stedman–Edwards and J. Mang (eds), The Root Causes of Biodiversity LossCharles Landry, The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban InnovatorsPaul Sillitoe, Social Change in Melanesia: Development and HistoryAlice H. Amsden, The Rise of 'the Rest': Challenges to the West from Late–Industrializing EconomiesA. S. Bhalla, Market or Government Failures? An Asian Perspective

Global politics and local politics, though interlinked today by processes of globalization, remain separated by the phenomenon of distance. Sheer physical distance, with its associated geography, assumes mainly a causal importance. It determines the way a policy is implemented practically, and can affect the outcome of policy. Planning and strategizing, especially in the sphere of foreign policy, are shaped by three other "distances" as well, each with a distinctive logic. The first is gravitational distance, according to which political and other power is thought to "decay" with increasing distance, although the "mass," or size, of countries can modify this assumed attenuation of influence. The second is topological distance, according to which any two countries may seem more remote from one another if there are other countries located in between them, the number and arrangement of these intervening country-spaces—the configuration of the political map—being the key variable. The third is attributional distance, according to which countries seem more distant from or, conversely, nearer to one another owing to their political or cultural characteristics. For example, democracies feel closer to each other than they do to non-democratic states. When all of these three schemes of non-physical "distance" coincide, the resulting pattern of international relationships, whatever the actual distances between nations, is thereby strengthened.

The authors discuss the regulation of rural land use and compensation for property-rights restrictions, both of which appear to have become more commonplace in recent years but also more contested. The implications of contemporary theories in relation to this matter are examined, including: the applicability of new welfare economics; the relevance of the neoclassical theory of politics; and the implications of contemporary theories of social conflict resolution and communication. Examination of examples of Swiss and Australian regulation of the use of rural properties, and the ensuing conflicts, reveals that many decisions reflect a mixture of these elements. Rarely, if ever, are social decisions in this area made solely on the basis of welfare economics, for instance social cost-benefit analysis. Only some aspects of such decisions can be explained by the neoclassical theory of politics. Theories of social conflict resolution suggest why, and in what way, approaches of discourse and participation may resolve conflicts regarding regulation and compensation. These theories and their practical application seem to gain in importance as opposition to government decisions increases. The high degree of complexity of most conflicts concerning regulation and compensation cannot be tackled with narrow economic theories. Moreover, the Swiss and Australian examples show that approaches involving conflict resolution may favour environmental standards.

This paper draws on a study of the ways in which the moral and practical dilemmas of punishment are debated and deliberated upon in discussions among nine year old children (with adult facilitators). Theoretically, we are concerned with the points of connection between the social study of childhood and the analysis of punishment as an arena of discourse and practice; and methodologically we address this topic from the perspective of conversation. Here we focus on one aspect of the children's talk, namely the mobilisation of themes and images that seem to have their origin in the more or less remote past. We argue that a contextual and nuanced exploration of the historicity of such 'punishment talk' can help in disclosing how punishment 'works' as a theme in politics and culture—history offers a resource of precedents and examples that children find good to think with. We suggest a particular association between this historical imagination (and the often physically forceful measures that it invokes) and times of crisis or emergency. This is apparent, for example, when discussion turns to the persistence of the death penalty in the United States. We conclude with some brief remarks on the significance of involving children in such deliberations for the development of alternative (or 'replacement') penal politics. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Following an overview of James Heckman's (2000) article on the state of econometrics to shed light on the role of statistics in political science, efforts to link theory & data in formal empirical research are scrutinized. The empirical content of formal models is described, using the example of political outcomes in a democracy to illustrate the simultaneous equations model. Why contemporary theorists see such a model as inadequate is addressed, along with how they are moving beyond them. In addition, why they view such empirical work as unsatisfactory is considered as well as how they are pursuing stronger theory-data links. However, benefits of inadequate models for structuring empirical work are noted. Attention turns to a series of thumbnail sketches of examples from microinstitutionalist theory & austere political theory with simultaneous equations modeling & structural estimation; examples come from US politics, comparative politics, international relations, & international political economy. Four standards guide a look at the substantive contributions of formal empirical work: (1) understanding political phenomena & solving empirical puzzles, (2) advancing rich theory & stimulating new theory, (3) rejecting theory, & (4) improving public policy. Advances in the study of voter turnout are seen to demonstrate the utility of formal empirical work. A call is made for more & improved research of this kind. 3 Figures. J. Zendejas

Despite the vast literature that questions the separation between indigenous and scientific knowledge, rural Third World women continue to be indigenized and their knowledge upheld as the new path to sustainable development and biodiversity. By drawing on ethnographic examples from the Kumaon Himalayas in India, this paper examines the construction of women's knowledge and asks how, in practice, women's knowledge is produced, circulated, and shared. It draws attention to the politics of knowledge and argues that women's knowledge is a product of everyday practices of labor and livelihood that are shaped by culturally contingent relations of power and authority. By describing everyday conversations, meetings, and explanations, the paper shows that there is a great deal of informal exchange between women and men that mutually shapes their knowledge and confronts the idea that women's knowledge is distinct. Moreover, women's knowledge, it is argued, is not a neatly packaged information box but a set of relations shaped in contexts of social inequalities, local histories of conflict, and colonial and postcolonial interventions. While the attention to women's knowledge is welcome, the paper cautions against looking at women as embodiments of special knowledge, and makes a call for examining the cultural politics of power and authority that marginalizes women and their knowledge. 1 Photograph, 23 References. (Original abstract - amended)