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Describes the evolution of the Third World movement in the Federal Republic of Germany, drawing in part on several previous surveys of member groups & organizations. The idea of international solidarity arose with concerns about Algerian liberation in the 1950s & continued to resonate during the 1960s-1970s around political conflicts in Vietnam, Chile, South Africa, & elsewhere. The Third World movement professionalized in the 1980s around two goals: (1) expressing solidarity with groups pursuing political freedom (eg, in El Salvador & Nicaragua) & (2) improving concrete living conditions in developing countries. In the 1990s, the movement has mobilized around social issues (eg, child prostitution & sexual tourism) &, increasingly, development policy. Organizational forms & movement institutionalization (particularly through church structures) are briefly analyzed, as is the movement's development of a collective identity. 6 References. E. Blackwell

Freedom from violence stands as an important candidate for a universal human right. By definition, however, such rights apply only to phenomena that are universally perceived and experienced and take predictable expression, a possibility that many contemporary interpretations of cultural theory reject. Yet people who live dramatically different lives—on tourist islands in the West Indies or as hunter‐gatherers and reindeer herders in Arctic regions—agree about components that comprise a unitary phenomenon legitimately called "violence." This is consistent with findings from cognitive and neruological science and with a more Geertzian theory that culture understood as meaning is not a thing, cultural variability occurs between individuals, and cultural consensus emerges as a necessary consequence of social interaction among people who participate in common social fields, who engage in common social discourse.

This paper considers whether arguments presented in Philippe Van Parijs' Real Freedom for All: What (if Anything) Can Justify Capitalism? succeed in rebutting the objection that the introduction of a substantial unconditional basic income (UBI) would allow non-working citizens to free-ride on the efforts of, and so exploit, working citizens. It considers Van Parjis' 'external assets argument' for UBI, and finds that this argument does not succeed in reconciling payment of a substantial UBI with the reciprocity principle which underpins this 'exploitation objection'. It considers and rejects Van Parijs' implicit claim that the exploitation objection must be grounded in a distributive principle which contradicts the egalitarian commitment to prevent brute luck inequality. It concludes that Van Parjis has failed, thus far, to articulate a convincing response to the exploitation objection.

Peaceful cooperation among individuals and among states has be- come a globally recognized policy objective. The worldwide trend to- wards deregulation, market economies, protection of human rights and democracies reflects an increasing recognition that individual freedom, non-discrimination and rule of law are the best conditions for promoting individual and collective self-determination and social welfare. But in contrast to the long-standing constitutional theories for national democracies, there is a troubling paucity of theory on how to achieve a peaceful international order based on worldwide liberal rules. During the first half of the 20th century, government policies in international relations continued to be dominated by power politics, protectionism and pragmatic trial and error with tragic experiences of government failures, such as wars and unnecessary widespread poverty.

On February 8, 1996, President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law and explained that the legislation would "stimulate investment, promote competition, [and] provide open access for all citizens to the Information Superhighway." However, contrary to the goal of "opening wide the door to the Information Age," provisions of the Act violate the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech by imposing far-reaching new federal criminal liabilities on Americans who exercise their free speech rights on the Internet. In particular, a little-noticed provision of the Act, which expands an 1873 law banning abortion-related speech by criminalizing Internet discussion and information about abortion, continues to be a source of concern among pro-choice activists, First Amendment scholars, and electronic providers and users.

The paper compares the agrarian system that existed in Ethiopia. It examines the conceptual and institutional continuities of Ethiopian governments despite differences in political orientations. The essay compares the political, economic and social policies of the monarchy, the military (1974-1991) and the current post-1991 government. A comparison of these agrarian systems is made by examining such variables as the means of surplus extraction, access to land, rural administration and constraints. The underlying reasons for the stagnation of Ethiopian agriculture and the failures of policy intervention are identified. (DÜI/DSE)

The essential aspect of democracy's ability to incorporate group identities & aspirations is placed in the context of emerging world democracies & postmodern thought. The concept of obligatory constraint is established as an inherent factor in any legitimate democracy; citizens of a democratic state are free to despise the elected government, but not its right to be the government. Democracy is described as a subordinate, conditioning good. The example of South Africa's 1990-1994 transition toward democracy illustrates the significant role of group identities, ethnically & politically based, in attaining national freedom. The more intricate problems of Palestinian aspirations in Israel exemplify group identities functioning in a dominated minority's quest for democratic participation. Elucidation of these examples segues into postmodernist theories maintaining that politicized identities evolve with time & circumstance. D. Bajo

The desire of French intellectuals to modify the nature of allegiance to the democratic state, Canada's attempts to correct gaps in its pluralism & resist Americanization, & the unique nature of Quebec's identity are considered in light of the constitutional problems between Quebec & Canada. Both Quebec & Canada recognize the legitimacy of the Charters of Rights & Freedoms in the government of cultural multiplicity. However, unlike Quebec, Canada defines national identity in terms of multiculturalism & civic & social rights. It is argued that Canada's adherence to this definition was unable to prevent the emergence of a legalistic pluralism that is threatening democracy. Canada's inability to recognize the existence of a distinct democratic & pluralist nation made it necessary for Quebec to fight for both national & pluralistic affirmation. Adapted from the source document.

Research on the practical problems of allocating homes according to need has recently been eclipsed by heated debate on the privatisation of public housing. In the wake of the British government's new commitment to the idea of state-subsidised accommodation, this paper reconsiders the problem of discretion in effecting welfare transfers. It explores how nine local authority housing departments process applications from people with health problems and mobility needs. We argue, contrary to the prevailing wisdom, that discretion is inevitable, necessary and often desirable when assessing housing needs and matching needy applicants to homes. Neither total market freedom nor complete bureaucratic constraint seem likely to solve the problem with social housing. However, an approach balancing unavoidable discretion with rigorous accountability might be a fruitful way forward.

Since the advent of the modern university in the United States, dissent has been a cherished, protected right. The university has had a long history worldwide as a corporate form. While dissent has been reserved for individual scholars, universities have only rarely engaged in dissent as corporate or institutional bodies. When they have done so, such institutions became "partisan camps" which tolerated no individual dissent. This essay argues that the campus antiwar movement of the 1960s was, in part, an effort to force corporate dissent upon the universities and constituted a substantial threat to academic freedom—one which the professoriate turned back. Current efforts by the political right or left to establish partisan camps on campuses are no less dangerous to the right of individual dissent.

This essay cxplores the political economy of ocean space, i.e. the political process of appropriation and exploitation of the seas by human societies in the 20th century. The analysis focuses on two developments: the progrcssing acquisition of ocean space and marine resourccs by coastal states, and the establishment of a substantial body of legal rules governing the remaining freedom rights of states, in particular in the area of environmental protection and the safety of life at sea. A third important aspect of ocean politics is discussed in the final pmt of the essay: the growing disturbance, pmtly even destruction of marine ecosystems. The pollution of the marine environment has resulted in a paradigmatic shift in the relationship between human societies and the seas which necessitates fundamentally new approaches in the governance of ocean space.

The Länder Administration - The Case of Bade-Wurtemberg.
The administrative organisation of the Länder falls within the competence of the Länder themselves. Despite this freedom, it is noticeable that the administrative Systems of the Länder are remarkably similar, so that one may legitimately confine oneself to describing only one of them. In Bade-Wurtemberg there is a devolved form of administration which is spread over three levels : high administrative bodies and superior sectors of the administration constitute the upper level, special superior administrative sectors form the intermediary level and subordinate administrative organs and special subordinate administrative sectors make up the lowest level. The government in the Land is the most important organ out of those which make up the highest level of administration.

An examination of the concept of community from theoretical & political perspectives emphasizes the centrality of the question in contemporary societies. The impossibility of community, as one of the radical theses of political theory, is defined against the background of the real limitations of a global world that does not allow for the existence of community. The effectiveness of the thesis of the impossibility of community is tested using H. Kelsen's analysis of the parliamentary concept of democracy. In treating community as a political space where political & judicial systems & cultures meet, Kelsen's definition of community avoids the real manifestations of the world. Kelsen defines revolutions as political catastrophes that evoke the framework of the Other where freedom appears as the destruction of social integration. Adapted from the source document.