Suchergebnisse

The problem of linguistic reform in China is complicated by the fact that it has 2 aspects: (1) a uniform spoken language & (2) a written language. Efforts to universalize the use of pai hua (Pekinese, which is also the language of the classics) are closely connected with attempts to modernize the country itself. It is necessary to distinguish between the bourgeois (Hu Shis) & revolutionary reformers, such as the prophet Ch'en Tu-Hsin, who assigned to linguistic reform an important role In the Communist revolution. At this time, the success of the spoken language is almost attained, for pai hua is being used more & more throughout China. The promblem of the written language is more complex.- the knowledge of 2,000 characters (of some 40,000) is actually considered indispensable as a basic alphabet, posing not only a problem of scholarship, but also raising difficulties in the functioning of modern methods of communication & thought. Attempts to simplify it are not new; however, it was not until 1955 that a methodical plan of modernization was established. If linguistic reform is only one of the testing grounds of the new regime, its pol'al importance is still considerable. Tr from IPSA.

Following the psychol'ts & econ'ts, pol'al sci'ts have focused their attention on studies of the decision-making process. Sci'fic methods, analyzing the phenomenon, & making it possible to predict the outcome, have been set forth by diff investigators. The results are far from being satisfactory. In effect, it is only possible to make predictions when a minimum of knowledge, freedom & coherence presides over human decisions. If we pass from the individual to the collective, which is that of pol'al decisions, we see that the decisions of several individuals are not only `concurrent' but 'cooperative', for they tend to arrive at a single decision for the entire group. It is interesting to compare the individual choice of a consumer & the individual choice of a voter (the vote of the majority being the normal group means of arriving at a decision). Certain authors, Black in particular, do not see any diff in principle between them. Others, like Buchanan, see fundamental diff's: the consumer knows the immediate result of his choice, not the voter; the first wishes to satisfy his tastes, the latter to realize his values: above all the latter can be forced to accept a result contrary to his choice. Pol'al decisions, made in uncertainty, are thus exposed to coercion. Tr. by Z. Dana from IPSA.