Suchergebnisse

By 1975, after a period of widely divergent estimates for Chinese grain production, a consensus appeared to be emerging. Consider, for example, the estimates that were published at the time (in million tons):Not only was there a consensus, but it was widely assumed that the figures were consistent with those published in the late 1950s. Since then, evidence has been accumulating that the definition of grain has changed and that not all of the figures released in any given year conform to the definition commonly used at the time. We will review the changes in the definition of grain and present our interpretation of the data that have been released in the past 20 years.

One problem to which we must address ourselves before constructing any deductive model of voting behaviour is why people vote at all. On the face of it at least, this seems to be a stumbling block, given the theoretical problem that, compared with the costs of voting, the benefits to be expected are very small; and given the empirical problem that large numbers of people turn out to vote when they cannot possibly hope to influence the result, while others stay at home on the few occasions when a close result is expected. The most common attempted solution amounts to saying that people like voting, or at least that they feel guilty about not voting. This solution can be traced from the early work of Downs to the more recent and rigorous analyses of Riker and Ordeshook. Motives such as citizen duty, the satisfaction of belonging to a democracy, the satisfaction of supporting a particular party, and so on, are ascribed to voters. Each voter is then assumed to conduct a 'calculus of voting' in which he or she weighs up these benefits against any inconvenience involved in going to the polling booth. For many the net effect will be positive and voting will therefore be rational.

The European Community (EC) has been in existence for over twenty years & its permanance is no longer seriously questioned. This recognition of the EC as a durable component of the global system is partially acknowledged by the shift of scholarly research from the internal problems of Community development to its external relations. Here a number of important questions are unresolved: Is the EC a coherent global actor or only an arena where representatives of nation-states carry out their foreign policies? Does the EC operate effectively in the political arena or is its power limited to economic matters? To address these questions, EC relations with the advanced industrial societies & with the developing countries are examined. In the former category EC external policy in agriculture & energy is scrutinized. In the latter category, EC's attempt to formulate a development policy is viewed from six different perspectives. Regardless of the degree of common puropse & cohesion evident in the EC's activities, it clearly is an importnat actor for both the industrial & nonindustrial countries. Modified HA.

J. Robinson ("Public Affairs Television and the Growth of Political Malaise: The Selling of the Pentagon," American Political Science Review, 1976, 70, 409-432) has demonstrated that TV can exercise a considerable influence on more general orientations to the political system. The Carter-Ford debates during the 1976 American presidential campaign offered an excellent opportunity to determine the impact of TV upon global orientations to the political system. The debates occurred in a polity which had manifested a spectacular erosion of public confidence in government. Both candidates addressed this malaise, vowing to restore dignity & propriety to national politics. Following the logic of Robinson's argument, the debate should have functioned to counteract the negative image recently acquired by American politics. This hypothesis was tested by a panel analysis of approximately 200 undergraduates at a state U in the American south. The Ss were randomly assigned to six experimental & control groups following a modified version of Solomon's multiple group design. The Ss' sociopolitical attitudes were assessed by a multiple-choice questionnaire administered three times: (1) one week before the first debate, (2) immediately at the conclusion of the first debate, (3) one week following the first debate. The impact of exposure to the debate was gauged by comparing the attitudes of viewers & nonviewers at the three testing points. The findings support the traditional view that TV has a limited influence on political outlooks. While the debate had a small & statistically significant impact on campaign interest, there were no significant differences between experimental & control Ss in terms of intent to vote, sense of political efficacy or level of political cynicism &, contrary to the hypothesis, exposure to the debate produced a slight decrease in trust in government. These findings suggest that the low level of confidence in American government was too deeply rooted to be dispelled by a few hours of civilized presidential debate. 2 Tables. Modified AA.