Suchergebnisse

Insofar as structuralism does not reduce to an amorphous interest in exploring social patterns, it must adopt an ontology of structures. This ontology distinguishes structuralism from other approaches offering structural descriptions of social phenomena. In light of this difference in approach, the idea of a social structure is defined & defended. In Structuralism and Ontology , Bruce H. Mayhew (U of South Carolina, Columbia) points out that questions of ontology are irrelevant to the sciences -- including the social sciences -- for the simple reason that they proceed on the assumption of hypothetical realism. Structuralism in the social sciences includes a wider array of perspectives than those discussed by Grafstein, who appears to be discussing a particular variety of French structuralism -- a tradition that has very serious problems. In The Search for Social Structure, Robert Grafstein defends his attempt to link ontology & structuralism against taxonomic, philosophical, & social scientific objections. The positive case for pursuing structural ontology is reaffirmed. Modified HA.

In political sociology, legitimacy is defined in terms of citizen beliefs & attitudes about political institutions. Political economy introduces an important corrective to this tradition, by recognizing that an individual's choices are governed not only by his personal feelings toward institutions but by the existing alternatives. The concept of an alternative's existence, however, needs clarification; its usual use covers both the institutional facts of life & the psychological figments of political imagination, perhaps as a reflection of the normative individualism historically associated with political economy. This approach is at odds with the usual formulations of positive political economy. An alternative conceptualization is offered that restores theoretical consistency, going beyond the individual's utility for political objects to the role of external conditions, including risks, costs, & creation & elimination of alternatives, in the determination of legitimacy. In Variations on a Theme by Grafstein, Walter Firey (U of Texas, Austin) proposes two modifications of Grafstein's formulation. When these are applied, the result is an analytic proposition that asserts a necessary relation between the concept of legitimacy & the concepts of utility & validity, as contrasted to the contingent behavioral relationship that Grafstein suggested. In Sociologists, Economists, and Legitimacy, Robert Grafstein notes that the proposed definition of legitimacy is strictly behavioral. In contrast, Firey's revised version of it, like the definitions of traditional political sociology & political economy, is psychological. Modified HA.

Although Max Weber's conception of legitimacy has become the dominant model for empirical investigations of that phenomenon, many political theorists have argued that Weber incorrectly reduces legitimacy to political stability. It is argued that this result stems from Weber's incorporation of a realistic psychology into his analysis. Examined are the implications of this diagnosis for the conception of legitimacy. AA.

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our longtime friend and colleague, Dr. Eugene F. Miller, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Georgia, who taught in the department of political science with great distinction from 1967 until his retirement in 2003. He died on May 30, 2010, following a two-year battle with multiple myeloma.