Suchergebnisse

The protection of Environment and the Sustainability Development in the long term have become planetary concerns which will be debated next june in « Earth Summit » in Rio de Janeiro.
A new problematic, exposed in the Brundtland Report, written upon the United Nations' request, throws light on the various links between scientific, political and economic requirements in order to ensure ethics and feasability of these policies. The present article highlights the differential problematics, the underlying principles and the evaluation and accounting tools making such strategies possible.
Relying on these references, the author describes, in different geopolitical areas, the present state of economic and financial strategies aiming at environment protection and sustainable development. An evaluation of means invested and outcomes obtained is attempted. This approach permits to assess the methods for building reliable accounts of global environment and development financing, and to suggest perspectives for a worldwide allocation of resources that could meet the present and future world challenges.

In this paper the results are presented of research based upon two original surveys of local authorities. The manner in which changes have taken place in British local authority economic development activities is assessed. Data from questionnaires are supported by additional material drawn from secondary sources. The author seeks to indicate the changing take-up of economic development activities amongst a set of case-wise matched local authorities. A comparative assessment of the contemporary role being played by local authorities in economic development through a comprehensive assessment of policy measures is then presented. These analyses provide a much needed updating of research findings presented in 1986 by Mills and Young and a unique and systematic assessment of the manner in which these policies have been developed over time. The findings present a benchmark prior to the passing of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 which provides a statutory power for local government to engage in economic development.

SUMMARY. In this issue of Children & Society, there are two articles on the joint Social Work Department and Central Scotland Police initiative, begun in 1989, for joint investigations of child abuse referrals. The second paper is an evaluation of the scheme.This first paper gives a brief description of the operation of joint investigations involving police and social workers with a discussion on strengths and weaknesses of the joint approach. The author goes on to focus on some of the difficulties which emerge in child protection systems which are characterised by adherence to procedural guidelines and which are further characterised by the strong influence of centralised management. Such a view may have applicability to other parts of Scotland and the U.K. and may be recognisable, too, to professionals further a field. This article is based on a presentation to the 8th International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, Hamburg, 1990.

A simulation of workplace conflict examined the effects of a
manager′s pregnancy on male and female subordinates. Study participants
‐ 40 women and 41 men from an MBA programme – each took part in
two ten‐minute long, interactive role plays with two women managers
(research confederates), one apparently pregnant and the other not. The
participants′ impressions of the manager were tapped using an
author‐developed questionnaire and brief interviews. Interactive data
were analysed to determine the nature of the expression of emotion and
ideas. The results show that participants had more negative impressions
of and lower satisfaction with the pregnant manager than with the
manager who was not pregnant, and initiated more social conversation
with the former than with the latter. Interview data suggest that
participants had expected the pregnant manager to be passive, nice and
giving, and were surprised by her authoritative behaviour. Implications
for pregnant managers are discussed.

Paradoxically, the advent of glastnost and the democratization of Soviet society appear to have diminished both agreement with mass media and trust in them. At the same time, the disagreeing audience—as compared to the agreeing one—demonstrates more self-consciousness and social activity, conditions indicating greater preparedness for perestroika and the restructuring of Soviet society. These results were obtained from surveys in 1985 and 1987 of 2,000 Byelorussians aged 16 to 30 in five social class categories: collective farmers, workers, technical employees, secondary and professional school students, and university students. Survey results are compared to a content analysis of reports of problems on Soviet radio and television and in youth newspapers (750 texts in 1985, 850 in 1987). The author concludes that under conditions of "monopropaganda," in which mass media are managed by a single sociopolitical group, disagreement with the media becomes a socially positive force for the democratization of society.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Mikhail Bulgakov's Master i Margarita is the complex and deeply significant system of parallels the author has set up between the Moscow and Jerusalem stories. These parallels have produced, in much scholarly analysis of the novel, a strong tendency toward what Andrew Barratt has called a "monistic" approach: An interpretation of the work as a double novel, or two variations of the same "master story," acted out in different times and places by characters with clear, specific correlations—Woland-Pilate (or Latunskii-Pilate), the Master-Ieshua, Bezdomnyi-Matvei, and so forth. Although this approach has an obvious appeal, it also has several serious weaknesses. Not least among these is its failure to encompass the character of Margarita—that is, to identify a parallel to her in the Jerusalem story. In the following I will address this weakness by suggesting that Margarita's parallel character is Afranius, the chief of Pilate's secret service.

The relationship between political culture & economic development policy is examined by drawing on Daniel J. Elazar's analysis of US political culture (Cities of the Prairie Revisited: The Closing of the Metropolitan Frontier, Lincoln: U of Nebraska Press, 1986), in which the existence of three subcultures -- individualistic, traditionalistic, & moralistic -- is posited. It is suggested that these subcultures & their corresponding values entail different strategies for stimulating economic growth. Annual measures of states' activity on four dimensions of development policy (derived from published statistics) are used to demonstrate that: moralistic states adopt strategies that emphasize solidarity; individualistic states are more inclined to pursue policies that confer particularistic benefits on investors; & policymakers in traditionalistic states prefer exclusionary incentives that are likely to reinforce existing patterns of domination. It is concluded that the impact of development policies on economic performance is still not clear, & that actions which positively affect economic performance may erode cultural values by triggering migrations that bring new values into the extant political culture. 3 Tables, 4 Figures. Adapted from the source document.

THE AUTHOR QUESTIONS WHETHER JAPAN'S ECONOMIC SUCCESS WILL LAST OR WILL BE SHORT-LIVED. HE ANALYZES THE REASONS FOR THE RELATIVE ECONOMIC DECLINE OF THE UNITED STATES FROM SUCH PERSPECTIVES AS CHANGES IN THE COMPETITIVENESS OF MAJOR INDUSTRIES IN THE USA AND JAPAN, THE MISMANAGEMENT OF U.S. MACROECONOMIC POLICY UNDER THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION, AND THE OVERVALUATION OF THE DOLLAR IN THE 1980'S. THEREIN LIE A NUMBER OF LESSONS FOR JAPAN IN CHARTING ITS FUTURE COURSE OF ACTION. JAPAN'S CURRENT-ACCOUNT SURPLUS HAS BEGUN TO DECLINE, AND IT IS NO LONGER FEASIBLE TO CONCENTRATE ONLY ON AUGMENTING DOMESTIC DEMAND. FIRST, JAPAN MUST BE CONCERNED WITH THE BALANCE BETWEEN DOMESTIC DEMAND AND CURRENT-ACCOUNT SURPLUS, SO AS TO FULFILL ITS INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES THROUGH OVERSEAS ECONOMIC COOPERATION. SECONDLY, THE CONSIDERABLE SIZE OF JAPAN'S CURRENT-ACCOUNT SURPLUS NECESSITATES SOME KIND OF RULES OR PHILOSOPHY, ACCEPTABLE INTERNATIONALLY, TO SERVE AS A GUIDE IN REALLOCATING SOME OF THE SURPLUS BY REGION AND PURPOSE.

Using a first-person narrative, harassment suffered as a result of the 1971 publication of Race, Intelligence and Education (Eysenck, H., London: Temple Smith [published in US as The IQ Argument, New York: Library Press]), which argued that genetic factors play a role in the development of human intelligence, is described. Acts of cruelty experienced included physical assault by a group of Maoists while delivering a lecture, threats to the author's family, & accusations of racism. It is argued that many crucial arguments of the book were misrepresented by the media, some of which accused the author of being a racist & fascist; others simply dismissed the book as unsound scholarship. The main claim of the book is clarified: ie, one's genetic predisposition contributes to the formation of differing levels of intelligence. The dangers of academic censorship & the duty of scientists are also discussed, & a resolution for scientific freedom is presented. 3 References. W. Howard

THE PROBLEMS OF FOREIGN LABOR IN JAPAN HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY SERIOUS ECONOMICALLY, POLITICALLY, AND SOCIALLY IN RECENT YEARS. IN RESPONSE TO LABOR SHORTAGES AND HIGH WAGES, LARGE NUMBERS OF FOREIGN WORKERS ARE ENTERING JAPAN AND ILLEGALLY ENGAGING IN UNSKILLED WORK UNDER POOR WORKING CONDITIONS. THE AMENDED LAW OF IMMIGRATION CONTROL WENT INTO EFFECT IN JUNE 1990, STRICTLY PROHIBITING THE ENTRANCE OF FOREIGNERS FOR UNAUTHORIZED WORK WHILE OPENING DOORS MORE WIDELY FOR HIGHLY-SKILLED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE WORKERS. THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE RECENT PENETRATION OF THE JAPANESE LABOR MARKET BY FOREIGN WORKERS, THE POTENTIAL MERITS OF THIS INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION OF WORKERS, AND THE DEMERITS OR DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPONTANEOUS INFLUX OF FOREIGN WORKERS UNDER CURRENT INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS. THE AUTHOR ADVOCATES A WORK-AND-LEARN PROGRAM JOINTLY ADMINISTERED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR AS A POLICY REMEDY TO MAXIMIZE THE MERITS AND MINIMIZE THE DEMERITS OF ACCEPTING FOREIGN WORKERS.

THE AUTHOR ANALYZES FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 1979 TO 1987. DURING THIS PERIOD, THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, CANADA, AND JAPAN ACCOUNTED FOR 82 PERCENT OF THE $261 BILLION IN OVERALL FDI ACTIVITY AND 84 PERCENT OF THE $110 BILLION IN MANUFACTURING INVESTMENTS. NEW CAPITAL INVESTMENTS REPRESENTED 10 PERCENT OF ALL INVESTMENTS AND LESS THAN 20 PERCENT OF MANUFACTURING INVESTMENTS. INVESTMENT ACTIVITY WAS HIGHLY CONCENTRATED BY INDUSTRY AND IN MAJOR INDUSTRIAL STATES. FDI ACTIVITY WAS MOST EXTENSIVE IN STATES WITH SERIOUS STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS, INDICATING THAT CURBING FDI WOULD INCREASE U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT. SINCE JAPAN SUPPLIED 44 PERCENT OF NEW PLANT INVESTMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THIS PERIOD, LIMITING JAPANESE FDI COULD SLOW TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN U.S. MANUFACTURING. STATE-SPECIFIC TAX BURDENS AND INVESTMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAMS HAD NO IMPACT ON FDI ACTIVITY, AND TAX-ABATEMENT PROGRAMS DESERVE SKEPTICISM. CHEAP U.S. DOLLARS AND EXPANDING U.S. MARKETS HAVE HELPED TO ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTMENTS.

Using confirmatory factor analysis of nine survey perception items the author tests hypotheses ‐ derived from general theories in the field of electoral behavior‐ regarding fundamental latent structures of perceptions of party choice and party attachment in four types of Swedish environment defined by different degrees of urbanization. Significantly different structures have to be specified indicating greater group‐dependent affective attachments in rural areas and attachments of greater dependence on the party‐program contexts in urban districts. In the second and third sections of the paper these results are further explored through the construction of dichotomized typologies of voters. Loglinear analysis reveals that differences between environments, as with typologies, can be fully interpreted and explained by demographic and educational differences in the composition of the electorate. Provided that the different composition has been brought about by general urbanization, the results seem to indicate the political effects of social change that can be further emphasized in the future.

In defining international free trade as a public good, "hegemonic stability theory" posited early in the 1970s that its reliable supply depended upon a distribution of international power analogous to that within a privileged group. More recently, however, critics have challenged three assumptions fundamental to hegemonic theory: its premises of free trade, public goods, and privileged groups. They have concluded that hegemony is not necessary for, and indeed may be antithetical to, a stable world economy based on market exchange.The author argues that the critics overstate their case. The assumptions they attack allow hegemonic theory to represent analytically several critically important barriers to free trade among states. Among these are the existence of strategic interdependence among the actors and the prevalence of informational asymmetries. The most significant flaw in hegemonic theory is its neglect of the essence of the domain to which it applies: the politics of inter-state trade in an anarchic world.

THE U.S. IS WITHOUT A BURKEAN TRADITION OF CONSERVATION, AND INSTEAD, AS LOUIS HARTZ AND OTHERS HAVE SAID, HAS A CONSERVATISM GROUNDED IN LOCKEAN LIBERALISM. THE RECENT REVIVAL OF POLITICAL CONSERVATISM, MARKED BY THE TWICE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDACY OF RONALD REAGAN FOR PRESIDENT, POINTS UP THE DILEMMAS IN THIS CONSERVATISM: IT MUST EITHER REACH BACK TO ITS LIBERAL HERITAGE FOR INTELLECTUAL SUSTENANCE, OR IT MUST REJECT THAT PAST. THE FIRST STRATEGY, THIS ARTICLE ARGUES, IS POTENTIALLY SELF-DEFEATING, WHILE THE SECOND BREEDS CONTRADICTION BY MAKING CONSERVATIVES INTO RADICAL INNOVATORS. THE NEW CONSERVATIVES, THE ESSAY CONTINUES, HAVE TRIED TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. THEY HAVE SOUGHT AT ONCE TO EMBRACE A LIBERTARIANISM FOR WHICH THE MODERN STATE IS ANATHEMA AND A MORALISM DRAWN LARGELY FROM AN ILLIBERAL RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM. IN THE END, THE AUTHOR CONCLUDES, THE NEW CONSERVATISM'S PURSUIT OF A MORALLY REGENERATE REPUBLIC NEITHER TRANSCENDS NOR RESOLVES THE DILEMMA THAT PLAGUES CONSERVATIVES IN AMERICAN POLITICS.