Suchergebnisse

Res into matters of. a pol'al nature is far more ancient than the recent development of pol'al sociol (PS). The origin of such res must be sought in the Greece of Socrates, where free citizens participated in every aspect of pol'al life. It was only much later that pol'al life became a life apart, & that the relative independence of the 'soc' & 'pol'al' became accepted as an accomplished fact. In our day, we are once more identifying these 2 concepts. Pol'al sci is still the inheritor of the preoccupations of the classical philosophers of antiquity in that it devotes itself voluntarily to the construction of an Ideal State; on the contrary, PS is not interested in res of that nature. It is 'sociol' in that it studies in a sci'fic fashion all the aspects of soc life & 'pol'al' in that the aspect studied deals with the means of conquest, of the exercise & loss of power. Its field of res is an esp wide one. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 resumed the early Japanese practice, which had been interrupted for 1,000 yrs of importing culture from abroad & adapting it to Japanese needs & conditions. One means it used to accomplish this was to endorse the policy of sending S's abroad to study & do res. The door was closed on the practice by WWII but opened again in 1945. In the period 1949-1955 Japan has sent 1,473 S's to the US, France, GB, Germany, India, & Italy. Also during the same period Japan participated in 318 internat conferences. Since 1954 Japan herself has invited 38 undergrads & res S's to study in Japan at her expense. During the yrs immediately following the Meiji Restoration Japanese S's could bring home the knowledge & techniques of Western culture. They helped lay the foundation for modern Japan. Later S's found it more difficult to make such radical & important influences on national life & policy. The nationalism & xenophobia which became more & more dominant in Japan reduced incentives to study abroad. Self-examination after WWII has led to a resumption of the policy of learning as much as possible from foreign nations. Technical knowledge & world understanding should both be emphasized in foreign study probrams. Needed adjustments in the program include the desirability of providing orientation courses (in language & customs) for the participants, making it possible for married S's to bring their families with them, improving the means for selecting exchange S's & scholars, & for increasing the scope of the exchanges. B. J. Keeley.

The election of Kennedy serves to mark nothing less than the end of a neo-conservative decade & the beginning of a neo-liberal one, not only in the US but throughout the Western World. Wars often undermine existing soc structures which create a situation favorable to radical & liberal parties. Immediately after WWII, liberal gov's were formed in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Italy, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, & GB. In the US, to the surprise of many, the Democrats, with the victory of Truman in 1948, held on to the presidency. During the 40's & 50's the pol'al tide began to flow to the right. Soc Democrats & Labor Parties started losing & in 1952 the US had its first Republican President in 20 yrs. While the Soc Democrats in Sweden, Norway & Israel managed to retain power during this period, the right-wing groups in all of these countries gained support at each election during the decade from the late 40's to the late 50's. A number of forces reversed the postwar upsurge of liberalism: (1) the econ forces - the economy of the West helped by a universal growth in pop, the Marshall Plan, & finally the Korean War produced prosperity. Under the impact of Khrushchev's revelations about the Stalinist Regime, & of the Hungarian Revolution, an endless number of intellectuals abandoned the Communist & left-Socialist Parties all over the Western World. Factor (2) undermining the left was the 'liberalization' of traditionally conservative Parties - in England the Tories preserved most of the soc security & nationalization measures introduced by the Labor Party; in the US, Eisenhower, rather than Taft was chosen to represent the Republicans. It was only in the late 50's that the new liberal wave first began to reveal itself. Perhaps the earliest sign was the Labor Party's return to office in New Zealand in 1957. In the US, the Democrats increased their control of the House & the Senate & also elected a large number of governors, senators & congressmen in traditionally Republican States such as Maine, Vermont, & Connecticut. The liberal trend continued to manifest itself in the `New Nixon,' & finally in the victory of Kennedy. Why is this shift to the left taking place? A series of small recessions have helped to undermine the post-WWII feeling of prosperity. In Europe, with the end of econ reconstruction, unions in Germany, the Netherlands & Austria are resuming their traditional role of pressing for a larger share of industrial income for their members. In the intellectual sphere, the ideological warfare against Communism has subsided. In the US, the declining pressure for conformity has led many ex-radicals & liberals to become vocal once more & pol'ly active. A new set of soc problems is working to make the 60's a decade of neo-liberalism. (a) The prime econ issue is no longer the redistribution of national income among the various SC's; the question now is the proportion in which national income will be parcelled out between public & private expenditure. It seems that leftwing Parties are more likely to come to grips with this issue than those of the right, since the former have traditionally recognized & articulated the need for public control of the economy. The Democrats in the US have gained votes because of their stress on federal aid to educ, res, & public health. (b) Another issue in 1960 was international relations. The left is more likely than the right to respond to the widespread desire for an international settlement of the cold war. Problem (c) concerns the complex issue of upward SM. As soon as newer members of the Mc realize that their econ gains have not been matched by a commensurate gain in SS, they seem to rebel against the parties that speak for the higher echelons of power & prestige. In the US, the Democrats won in part because they were led by a man who could be identified with the more covert desires for increased SM & opportunities felt by labor & the new Mc; in the ambitions & handicaps of a Catholic candidate these groups saw something of their own situation. V. D. Sanua.