Suchergebnisse

Humankind is undergoing greater changes than it ever has before. These are related primarily to quantitative and qualitative demographic changes; technological and military capabilities; the emergence of information-rich societies; the presence of a diversity of viable and self-confident social and economic systems; the disparity between human expectations and accomplishments; and efforts to mobilize the effective thought of man kind. From these changes follow some key problems for political research of which these eight claim priority: peace research; social accounting and particularly explorations of the emancipatory capabilities of countries; analysis of shifting costs of national and inter national actors; a more precise knowledge of the double nature of capital: its 'hardware' and its intangible (information) aspects; understanding the problems of time and timing; further development of the theory of communication and control; greater comprehension of the politics of self-transformation; and the systematic search for knowledge on whether and how political scientists can find points of change as well as its forms and methods. A political science that derives its theories from discoveries and from the analysis of im plications, that goes on to invent solutions and design procedures for practical appli cations can do much to help mankind.

Personal experience in politics & political thought is reviewed. Crucial to this experience was teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the 'Unity of Science' group period, 1942-1958. This was followed by teaching at Yale University, 1958-1967, focusing on international politics, cybernetics, & a large data program. Teaching experience at Harvard University after 1967 & the dominant intellectual currents experienced during these periods are summarized. W. H. Stoddard.

WE HAVE ENTERED UPON A NEW STAGE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE as well as in the study of world affairs, the stage of large-scale computer-based world models. These models became practicable because of three changes. First, thanks to the United Nations and many national governments, many more better quality statistical data have now become available. Secondly, because of the techniques of sampling and of interviewing, we now can have survey data from very many countries and groups of people. These survey data cover many different aspects of people's views and attitudes, or of their experiences, or of their reports of what they thought they did. We can then compare the number of people who say they have written a letter with the number of letters the post office says they sent or got; thus we can, as it were, cross-examine the statistical data critically. Thirdly, we now have large computers which can store, recall, tabulate and analyze large amounts of data, if somebody works out a suitable programme for them. The computers can then tirelessly and patiently do work in minutes which individuals could not have achieved in a lifetime. Thanks to these advances in the last twenty or thirty years–the greater availability of statistics, survey and sampling techniques, and computers–we now have world models.

Karl Wolfgang Deutsch würdigt die wissenschaftliche Arbeit von Christian Peter Ludz. Unter seiner Leitung wurde der bis heute beste und gründlichste Systemvergleich zwischen Bundesrepublik und DDR erarbeitet: 'Materialien zur Lage der Nation', veröffentlicht von der Bundesregierung. Im letzten Jahr seines Lebens arbeitete Ludz an Plänen für eine Studie der amerikanischen Politiologie. (KA)

Der Beitrag wird eingeleitet durch eine Schilderung der in den Gesellschaftswissenschaften in den letzten 65 Jahren erzielten Fortschritte. Gleichwohl, so die Argumentation, liegt es im Wesen der gelösten Schlüsselprobleme, daß diese zu weiteren, ganz neuen Schlüsselproblemen führen. Anhand etlicher Beispiele wird dieses hier veranschaulicht. So gibt es zum Beispiel bislang kein brauchbares System zur Ermittlung von externen Kosten und externer Gewinne wirtschaftlicher Entscheidungen, das auch Aussagen über die sozialen Rückkoppelungskreise ermöglicht und Entscheidungshilfe bietet hinsichtlich einer etwaigen Intensivierung oder Verringerung der Aktivität in bestimmten Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsbereichen oder im Hinblick auf technologische Veränderungen. Weitere Ausführungen betreffen das Problem der Ermittlung der Entscheidungskosten sowie Fragen der quantitativ erforderlichen Genauigkeit. Abschließend werden wissenschaftsgeschichtlich die Veränderungen des Wissenschaftsvertrauens beschrieben und einige gesellschaftspolitische Fragestellungen aufgeworfen, zu deren Bewältigung die Lösung von Schlüsselproblemen durch die Sozialwissenschaft erforderlich wäre. Für die Zukunft wird in diesem Zusammenhang angenommen, daß, wenn sowohl die sozialen Fragestellungen als auch die auf sie anwendbare Mathematik erarbeitet sind, die Wissenschaft die möglichen Optionen verdeutlichen kann. (NG)

This paper is a revision of the Presidential Address delivered to the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Los Angeles, California, September 10, 1970. It identifies nine aspects of political theories: storage and retrieval of memories; assistance to insight; simplification of knowledge; heuristic effectiveness; self-critical cognition; normative awareness of values; scientifically testable knowledge; pragmatic skills; and wisdom, or second-order knowledge of what contexts are worth choosing—a wisdom subject to the possibility of radical restructuring. These nine aspects of theory form an integrated production cycle of knowledge. "Scientific" and "humanistic" political theorists need each other to understand the central task of politics: the collective self-determination of societies. To appraise this steering performance of political systems, large amounts of empirical data as indicators of social performance are indispensable. Political science has grown in knowledge of cases, data, research methods, and sensitivity to problems of disadvantaged groups and of the individual. It is learning to recognize qualities and patterns, verify the limited truth content of theories, and be more critical of its societies and of itself. It needs to increase research on implementation of insights, on positive proposals for reform, changes in political wisdom, and on the abolition of poverty and large-scale war. For these tasks, cognitive contributions from political theory are indispensable; working to make them remains a moral commitment.