Assuming that authoritarianism in Greater Syria is more prevalent than in the US, a 33 item F-scale was used (22 original, 8 from the California PEC, and 3 new items) to determine the relationship between authoritarianism and score magnitude. A sample of American U. of Beirut students (N=130: 77 Lebanese, 19 Syrian, 12 Palestinian, 11 Jordanian, 6 Iraqi, 5 Bahreini; 70 being Christians and 60 Moslems) received the questionnaire translated into Arabic. It was found that residence in an authoritarian culture leads to higher F scores, and that Moslems had a higher (mean - average) score than Christians. Conservatism was not related with authoritarianism, most of the authoritarian Ss were radical on matters of government responsibility for social welfare, increased taxation on corporate earnings, wealthy individuals, etc. L. P. Chall.
Over the last several yrs our larger graduate Sch's have contained within their precincts a cold war, the outcome of which will influence US higher educ. The combatants are a new generation of graduate S's who are substantially to the left of the men at whose feet they have chosen to sit. They are impatient with both the enlightened conservatism & the mild liberalism of their professors. New University Thought, (U of Chicago), Point Sixty (Philadelphia), & Studies on the Left (U of Wisconsin; are some of the publications expressing the shared views of S's, The themes they discuss can be summarized as nuclear war, civil rights, mass culture & the need for personal involvement. The philosophy of the Studies on the Left is that there is room in scholarship for the application of reason to the reconstruction of society as well as to legalistic interpretation & reform; the vehicle chosen for the new departure is Marxism. These S's have no illusions about Soviet Communism; the Marxism which draws them antedates the Russian Revolution. James Madison & Alexander Hamilton have been called pre-Marxian Marxists. Studies on the Left is primarily a journal of historians who emphasize the econ history of this country. If Marx saw undisputed power in the property-owners' class, the S's now see it concentrated in a corporate elite. Graduage S's are not revolutionaries & their hope is educ - knowledge will change society. Studies on the Left is contrasted with the New Left Review of Oxford. The latter is a thorough-going Socialist journal. The young Englishmen of the left want to do away with capitalism, believe that the working man who committed treason failed to live up to the cultural expectations set for him by those who assisted him in his earlier struggles, that the US & the USSR can make nuclear fools of themselves, but GB should sit the next one out, that white settlers in Africa should accept majority rule or return to England. British Socialists have a fairly distinct image of the country & world they would like to see. The Americans of the radical persuasion cannot apply their minds to imagining the outlines of a new soc order for their country. Workers in the US do not regard themselves as being exploited; if there is no class-conscious proletariat, the intellectual cannot play a part. In England a vast majority of the British workers retain their loyalty to the Labor Party. Yet despite all these obstacles to utopian thinking, the intellectual awakening symbolized by Studies on the Left is beginning to be felt throughout our graduate Sch's. V. D. Sanua.
by Nikola Stjepanovic This article is a quasi-statistical analysis of local government structure in Yugoslavia as it appears after the September 1955 reform. The inter-relations between the municipalities, the districts and the governments of the Federated and the Federative Republics are described by comparison with the former system, which comprised towns, non-autonomous urban districts, autonomous boroughs within towns, non-urban municipalities and, finally, districts or counties, which were all much more numerous than the present administrative units. Under the new system, only two types of unit have been retained: the Federated Republics are divided into districts, each of which includes a number of municipalities. Municipalities. The basic organ of local self-government is the People's Municipal Council, and enactments by either the Federated or the Federative Republics determine the competence of each of the four rungs of the administrative ladder. All matters not expressly reserved by the Constitution are within the scope of the municipal authorities; they include economy and finance, town planning, public health, social welfare, labour relations and, broadly speaking, home affairs. The People's Municipal Council is unicameral and elected for a three-year term by all the permanent residents. The number of councillors varies between 15 and 50, according to local conditions. A President, i.e. mayor, and sometimes also a Vice-President, are elected by the Council from among its members and are remunerated. The Council may set up committees, for one year terms, composed of at least two councillors assisted by a variable number of citizens chosen for their competence. The chairman of such a health, education, social affairs or other committee is entitled to speak in all council debates on the business of his committee, even if he is not a councillor. A municipal chief clerk, with the title of Secretary, who is a professional civil servant, is in charge of the clerical and executive administrative services, and is empowered to suspend any decision of a committee, provided that he can show that it transgresses the law. The size of the administrative services is proportional to the population of the municipality, and the minimum of five sections (general administration and budget; economic affairs; culture, welfare and health; national defence; taxation), under the direct authority of the Secretary, will be found in municipalities, of 5,000 inhabitants or less. Where the population exceeds 5,000, there is a Tax Collector in addition to the Secretary. Municipal employees are State civil servants. The fundamental principle of political philosophy in Yugoslavia is that all powers stem from the people. It follows that separation of powers is less marked than separation of duties. Other forms of expression of direct democracy are also part of the organisation of local government. Ward committees, of which the municipal councillors are ex officio members, may be elected. Meetings of electors may be convened, especially in rural areas, and must be held if one-tenth of the electorate so requests, but municipal councillors are not allowed to preside over them, although expected to attend. Moreover, local referendums may be organised and are, indeed, compulsory at the request of one-fifth of the electorate. Mr. Stjepanovic proceeds to a detailed examination of the economy of the municipalities and their competence in that field, and of the legal position of the municipalities in the general structure of the State. The municipalities are legal entities both in private and public law. Districts. The administrative status of districts has not been modified by the Act of 1955. The district serves as a reviewing and controlling authority: all local decisions must be referred to it, and are subject to possible suspension or annulment within a period of two months. Appeal may then be lodged with the Federated Republic within 15 days of notification by the District Council of its adverse decision. The District Council is also empowered to enforce mandatory measures if the municipality refuses or neglects to fulfil its obligations. Although the municipalities may appeal against action by the higher authorities, both to the Federated or the Federative Republic, on matters reserved by law to either, or even to their respective People's Assembly if the appeal is against a Government, such action is not in itself suspensive. The competence of the Districts extends to affairs of common interest to all the municipalities in their geographical area. The District implements, or controls the implementation of, the laws of the Federative Republic and the Federated Republics. In particular it is competent in matters pertaining to printing and publishing, the rights and privileges of inventors, the establishment and termination of public undertakings and their workers' councils, local budget control, marine fisheries, nature conservation and afforestation, public markets, tax assessment, town planning and building, public health control, narcotics, pharmacy, health resorts, social security and welfare, supervision of labour relations, secondary schools, school inspection, para-military defence training, archives and museums, home affairs such as elections, prisons, the lower courts, the public registry of births, marriages and deaths, citizen identification, capital executions, religious processions and collections outside the church premises, and so forth. District Assemblies are bi-cameral; they have a District Chamber and a Chamber of Producers. The first is elected by universal, direct, uninominal and secret ballot. The Chamber of Producers is composed of delegates of workers in (1) industry, transport, trade and crafts, and (2) agriculture, proportionally to each group's contribution to the product of the district. Both chambers have equal precedence. The District, as a corporate body, is, like the municipalities, an entity at law, both public and private. It similarly has a president, a secretary, Assembly chairmen, committees, and so on. In conclusion, attention is drawn to what was published in our issue No. 1 of 1954: the basic characteristic of Yugoslav administration is decentralisation and self-government. The Chambers of Producers and the Workers' Councils provide the Socialist means to this end. And the State itself is no longer conceived as a coexisting, coercitive factor in public administration.
SummaryPROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN REGIONS OF CONCENTHATION GERHARD ISBARYModern planning is an expression of society in evolution. It finds itself in the polarity between planning undertaken by the state, and community, town and regional planning carried out by local government. Its coordinating activities are an important democratic means of opposing the arbitrary actions which still create – without having the slightest notions about planning – very momentous data in a given area. Planning therefore is most active in those zones where economy and population have reached such a degree of density that the still existing open areas have to be treated with greatest care. It is the more strange that there are only few contacts between planning and agriculture in these urbanized areas. The sociological problems which arise from the continuous infringement on hitherto agriculturally used land, are often overlooked by planning in these urbanized areas as well as they appeal only very little to agrarian policies.The reason for this lack of contacts between both subjects seems to be not so much the different training of those working in these fields, but the fact that the economic integration of numerous farmers and agricultural employees started sooner than that of agricultural holdings into the national economy. Consequently, symptoms of structural dissolution predominated over the development of new agricultural forms. The great enticement to sell land at favourable prices, as well as the perseverance in traditional forms of farm management and a petrified class‐consciousness impeded the vast market chances in these urbanized areas which resulted from urbanization and its socioeconomic dynamics. Only in the fringe areas where no continuous contact with the 'urban way of life' existed, belts of intensive farming developed. It must, however, be mentioned that in the urbanized areas various groups found ways to assimilate themselves to the changed conditions of agricultural land use. Here horticultural and other holdings with intensive methods of cultivation, sparetime farmers, and often newly‐created lease‐holdings must be mentioned.If one accepts as a fact that in spite of all endeavours to decentralize, the process of increasing densities of population and industries in favourable locations goes hand in hand with the evolution of industrial society, it is obvious that the encroachment on agricultural land in the urbanized areas will continue. It must therefore be asked whether in future it will be possible for farms with an extensive use of land to have a location in these core zones. Planning has always emphasized that it is most important to loosen up these urbanized areas in order to create decent conditions of living for their inhabitants and to facilitate its functioning with as few frictions as possible. Priority must be given to the solution of the problem of preventing the merger of different centres which are connected by their functions within the conurbations, in order to preserve the character and entity of the various local units. Past experience does not show conclusively that the maintenance of these open spaces in the hand of agricultural holdings the productivity of which is related to an increased area of farmland, can be guaranteed even by the preparation of local development plans. Furthermore, planning by statute can give no guarantee for the viability of those agricultural holdings which do not try to reach an economic integration. Consequently, this kind of holdings has few chances in the core zones of the urbanized areas.In the field of international planning the idea has been promoted that public authorities ought to buy land in the open spaces of the 'buffer zones' between the different centres and to develop it for recreational purposes. The working of these open areas could then be undertaken either by special institutions, by public administration or by leasing. Taken as a whole, the land use of the open spaces within the urbanized areas will have to be organized under the principle that – moving from the outer borders of the fringe areas towards the centres – more or less independent holdings (full‐time farmers, part‐time farmers and specialized holdings of all kinds) will be followed by service undertakings (public and corporate property, the areas of permanent allotments, of private property such as parks, inns with gardens, and recreational institutions). In order to realize a plan of this kind a long‐term programme and considerable funds are needed, the use of which will be significant whith regard to the necessary redevelopment of urbanized areas.Parallel to regional economic policy, in international planning policy the tendency to plan integrated socio‐economic regions finds acceptance to an increasing degree. The development of contingent areas and the solution of problems arising therefrom are taken as an entity. The logical consequence will be the evolution of a regional sociology. Its main task will be the investigation of sociological problems in a changing regional community. It will then be in a position to recommend solutions which are urgently needed in planning and administration.RésuméPROBLÈVES DE LA PLANIFI CATION DU DÉVELOPPEMENT DANS LES RÉCIONS DE CONCENTRATION: GERHARD ISBARYLa planification moderne est pour la société en évolution une façon de s'exprimer. Elle se polarise entre une planification établie par l'Etat national et une planification émanant de l'autonomie des localités, des villes, des régions. Son action coordinatrice, orientée vers le bien commun, en fait un puissant moyen démocratique de s'opposer à l'arbitraire suivant lequel, maintenant encore, sans vue d'ensemble et pour ainsi dire inconsciemment, se fait la mise en place de choses importantes dans l'espace. C'est pourquoi la planification s'effectue le plus activement dans les zones où l'éducation et de promotion, une participation à la culture en général correspondent au caractère de notre société démocratique. Le planificateur doit essayer de contribuer à leur réalisation, en créant une structure écologique optimale.économie et la population ont atteint une telle densité qu'il importe de traiter avec le plus grand soin les espaces demeurés libres. Il est d'autant plus ttrange de noter que dans ces terri‐toires à densité croissante il existe peu de contacts entre la planification et l'agriculture. Les problèmes sociologiques qui, en de telles régions, résultent des emprises continuelles qui s'opèrent sur des espaces jusqu'ici utilisés par l'agriculture échappent souvent aussi bien aux conceptions d'améagement qu'éducation et de promotion, une participation à la culture en général correspondent au caractère de notre société démocratique. Le planificateur doit essayer de contribuer à leur réalisation, en créant une structure écologique optimale.à la politique agricole elle‐même. L'absence de relations entre ces deux domaines s'explique moins, pense‐t‐on, par la formation différente des hommes que par le fait que dans les zones à densité croissante l'articulation économique de nombreux exploitants et travailleurs agricoles s'est rélisée plus tôt que l'intégration économique des entreprises dans l'ensemble de l'économie. C'est ainsi que des phéomènes de dissolution structurelle l'ont emporté sur la création de nouvelles structures agraires. La tentation séduisante de vendre les terrains à des prix avantageux, mais aussi l'obstination à maintenir les formes d'exploitation traditionnelles, dans un sentiment de dasse figé, ont empêché dans les zones dont il s'agit la perception des grandes possibilités que la densité démographique croissante et le dynamisrne socio‐économique qui s'ensuit offraient au développement du marché. C'est seulement à l'extrĉme périphérie, là où ne se manifestait aucun contact permanent avec la vie citadine, que s'est développée une ceinture d'agriculture intensive. Sans doute, au sein même des espaces en voie d'agglomération, des groupes isolés ont su adapter l'emploi du sol aux conditions nouvelles. On pourrait mentionncr ici en particulier les exploitations de création de jardins et d'embellissement, les entreprises en rapport avec l'emploi des loisirs et souvent aussi de vraies fermes nouvellement constituées.En constatant que, malgré tous les efforts de décentralisation, la population et l'économie continuent à se concentrer dans les endroits appropriés, à mesure que progresse la civilisation industrielle, on se rend compte aussi que, dans les zones à densité croissante, les emprises de terrains jusqu'à présent agricoles ne sont pas arrivées à leur terme. La question se pose ainsi de savoir si à l'avenir, dans de pareilles zones, il restera une place quelconque pour des exploitations agricoles. Un des principaux postulats de la planification est de dégager les zones de concentration afin d'y créer des conditions de vie satisfaisantes pour la population et aussi pour que les fonctions s'y accomplissent sans s'incommoder l'une l'autre. Cela impose qu'on s'efforce d'empêcher l'imbrication mutelle sur le terrain des centres agglomérés qui constituent des ensembles fonctionnels, de manière à maintenir les possibilités d'existence et de dégagement de la résidence particulière. Or, l'expérience du passé montre que les plans d'origine locale n'ont euxmêmes pas assez pourvu au maintiem de tels espaces libres à la disposition des exploitants agricoles. Au surplus, la planification juridique ne saurait aucunement assurer l'existence d'entreprises qui, de leur côté, ne s'efforcent pas de participer à l'intégration économique. De telles exploitations n'ont par conséquent que peu de chances de subsister à I'intérieur des zones de concentration.Ainsi est apparue, dans l'aménagement international, une conception suivant laquelle, dans les zones intercalaires, les espaces libres seraient acquis par l'autorité publique et réservés aux besoins de détente immédiate de la population. La mise en exploitation de ces terrains peut se réaliser au moyen d'institutions particulières soit par voie administrative soit par voie d'affermage. En somme, l'utilisation des espaces libres à l'intérieur des zones à densité croissante se conformerait à un principe d'articulation suivant lequel, depuis la bordure périphérique en direction des centres, le territoire passerait graduellement des exploitations plus ou moins autonomes (agriculteurs à temps plein, agriculteurs d'appoint et exploitations d'agrément de tout genre) à des entreprises de service (propriétés publiques et corporatives, ceinture de petits jardins, domaines privés tels que parcs, établissements d'hôtellerie ou de détente). Pour réaliser un tel plan il est nécessaire d'établir un programme à long terme et de disposer d'importants capitaux, ce qui se justifiera nénmoins par la nécessité d'assurer les conditions d'assainissement indispensables aux zones d'agglomération croissante.Dans la politique internationale d'améagement du territoire se manifeste toujours davantage, parallèllement à la politique économique régionale, une tendance à planifier et à répartir l'espace en régions socio‐économiques constituant un réseau serré. Le développement d'espaces cohérents et les problémes nouvellement apparus se trouvent également impliqués dans ces conceptions. C'est pourquoi il est inévitable que se développe une sociologie régionale correspondante. Sa mission consistera à examiner par priorité les problèmes sociologiques qui se posent dans la communauté régionale en voie d'évolution. Elle se trouvera ainsi en mesure de recommander des solutions dont la planification et la pratique administrative devront tenir compte.
