A general descriptive and comparative study of the composition and structure of three forest carabid beetle communities is carried out in Lembeek (Belgium) using pitfall trapping over a four-year period (1978-1981). The three biotopes are a beech forest close to the climax stage, a pine plantation, and a grassland in process of afforestation. The composition of the carabid communities accords with that of the plant communities. Although the three components of diversity — richness in species, evenness and concentra¬ tion of dominance — do not show identical trends, diversity is distinctly higher in the grassland. Year-to-year changes in community structure are mainly due to climate, but are of different amplitudes. Stability, as well as differentiation of dominance structure, increase in the order : grassland — pine wood — beech forest. This suggests a growing community organization from a succes-sional stage to a climax stage, which is not correlated with diversity.
The short-term effects of the means of COMM on the voter appear weak. They are limited by certain fundamental att's of the electorate: reduced interest in pol'al matters; distrust in relation to pol'al statements at election time; selective utilization of pol'al messages to confirm existing opinions. In order to have signif consequences, the actions of the media must be fovored by a series of factors which arrange themselves chiefly on 3 levels: (1) The SP context; in certain cases, the media may reveal & accelerate latent tendencies towards change. In this sense, they serve as catalysts. (2) The system of COMM: this depends strictly on the psychol'al requirements of the public in relation to presentation of persons & ideas. Only certain forms of presentation seem to be effective. (3) Interpersonal pol'al communication: this conditions in a decisive manner the reception of messages. Following the intervention of the "leaders of opinion," the message takes its final form only within the soc group. It is not certain whether the pol'al effects of the media will not be more important on a long-term basis. One could surmise that the permanence of their action might progressively transform the general climate of opinion. Long-term observation should open new perspectives to res. Modified HA.
Participation and Conflicts in Labor relations of the Socialist World. The article consists of three parts. The first describes the Soviet trade-unions : their organization and working principles on the local, regional and federal levels. The functional duality of the trade-unions — transmittal of governmental decisions on the one hand and defense of professional interests on the other — is also studied. The second part describes the participation of workers. It treats the trade-union organs (workers assemblies and production committees) and the collective agreements. One form which participation takes is cooperation in the production process at the time when production and investment plans are being elaborated. Cooperation is achieved by means of « activists » who are nominated by the trade-union. Participation in labour legislation is primarily concerned with resolving wage problems and with defining labour conditions and social benefits. Trade-unions contribute likewise to the education of their workers. This is done by means of publications, cultural establishments and the organization of civil services (committees for juvenile delinquents, civil « militia » and peoples courts). In the third part, a distinction is made between external and internal conflits. External conflicts are caused by political involvment of top trade-union management, by internal competition within the trade-union management and by trade-union intervention in the field of social work. Labour legislation and employment problems likewise contribute to tension. Internal conflicts stem from problems related to remuneration, from lack of respect by the management for the prerogatives of trade-unions and from the general social climate within the enterprise. The author concludes that tensions in labour relations cannot be avoided in the Soviet Union, but that the propensity for strikes is reduced for a variety of reasons. Amongst these he cites two. Namely, possibility to change place of employment and significant wage increases. Soviet trade-unions must be regarded from the perspective of the socialist enterprise and from the kinds of « participatory struggles » revealed by sociological studies which have been made on industrial relations.
Reflections on the political economy of Mainland China's foreign trade. According to certain Chinese policy makers «foreign trade is a weapon in the international political struggle». With this in mind, the author points out the relative importance of political and economic factors in Chinese foreign trade policies, economic considerations often being put aside particularly in China's dealings with developing countries. The question of the policy adopted in dealings with advanced countries is then raised, followed by an analysis of the changes that took place in the climate surrounding exchanges between China and the USSR (during the fifties), with Japan (during the sixties) and the problems which arose or may arise in trading with the USA. Since exchanges between China and the USSR are of a political nature, a deterioration has been noticeable in the terms of exchange as well as a reduction in the number of transactions, coinciding with the chill in political relations between the two countries. If there was no perceptible price discrimination on the part of the URSS before 1958, the situation changed rapidly after that time. The drop in trade between the two nations is evidently more attributable to political than to economic factors. Due to the difficulties encountered in relations with the Soviet Union, China was forced to give new impetus to foreign trade and turned to Japan. Since 1965, the latter has been China's principal trading partner. In the case of relations between these two countries, economic considerations seem to have priority, because little by little trade with Japan has become indispensable to China. As to trade between the USA and China, it is still too early to foresee what the course of development will be or to anticipate the volume of exchanges, there being no precise indications concerning the policy projected by the Chinese government. Where the two nations are concerned it seems essentially a political problem stemming from the desire to improve mutual relations. However, the opening of new commercial outlets in China would be of considerable economic interest to US firms although it is expected that competition from other Western countries will make it impossible for any one country to corner the Chinese market.
