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If the US has been behind Western European countries in the field of pol'al sci, it is probably because the American scene has been less favorable for the development of Machiavellian interpretation of pol'al phenomena. To cite a distinction drawn by Mosca, American researchers have had a better understanding of the sci of gov than of the art of gov. This inadequacy helps to explain a certain backwardness in the study of pol'al ecology: thus the Tableau Politique de la France de l'Ouest, of A. Siegfried did not receive the attention in the US that it deserved. On the other hand, a sociol of elites & of bur'cy has developed in the wake of Michels. Also the study of international relations has been a stimulus to progress recently in pol'al sociol. The autonomy of admin'tive sci is also recent. In this connection, US pol'al concepts as well as pol'al practices tend toward the exclusion of all pol'al influence & toward the study of admin as a whole which is self explanatory. It is only since the end of WWII that public administration has been studied within the vaster complex of soc & pol'al forces. Actual studies are being conducted on a large scale which includes even soc psychol & anthrop. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.

The pol'al thought of Mosca underwent an evolution which led it from the anti-parliamentary & anti-democratic polemics of his first writings to an overtly liberal position in his more mature yrs. In effect, the 2 themes which make up the key of his system and upon which his fame rests, `pol'al class' & `pol'al formula' (which we are more apt to designate as `elites' & `ideology') are treated in his earlier works in a clearly anti-democratic sense. Experience & more extensive study of the parliamentary system later produced a more favorable attitude & the concept of `judicial defense' which is at the heart of the defense of individual liberties. It is thus that Mosca adheres to the liberal tradition & to an original interpretation of democracy. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.