Suchergebnisse

The only persistent & consistent discussion of methodology in politics can be found in the works of H. D. Lasswell. Thinking in developmental terms is for him to be explicit about one's anticipation of the shape of things to come. It proceeds from the assumption that societies are constantly changing, but is concerned with 'patterns of succession of events' rather than with `stages' of development. A developmental construct is finally 'frankly imaginative though disciplined by careful consideration of the past'; rather than being a direct statement concerning the future, it appears as a 'means of improving judgments of the future'. Thus, as acts of the creative imagination, developmental constructs enable policy-makers or soc sci'ts to orient themselves in the pursuit of their activities. On the positive side, Lasswell seems to have successfully come to grips with 2 problems: he has dealt with the implications of the fact that pol'al behavior is above all value-oriented & goalseeking on the one hand, anticipatory on the other hand. It remains however that Lasswell's undisciplined manner of presentation has tended to make his total work seem disjointed, & that developmental analysis, though specifying initial & terminal states, does not say anything about the position of these states in the pattern of change. IPSA.

Use of the term `underdeveloped' (UD) implies that the most signif dimension of measurement is standard of living. IUD' places a country on a scale which implies that industrial development can, should, & will take place. The term `poor,' however, is not used to place a country on a continuum of technical change. Rather, it describes its relative consumption position, compared to other countries. The concept changes when the 2 ideas are combined, & emphasis is laid on the relative presence or absence of technical productive capacity. The assumption that technological development (TDT) is possible for all means the majority of people can no longer be allowed to live in poverty. Poverty is now the consequence of being UD. On the one hand, the new conception of TDT is geared to 20th cent understanding of relationships between technology, productivity, & the determination & satisfaction of minimal human needs. On the other hand, our conception of how to meet these needs is geared to an obsolescent conception of what nation states can accomplish. Help in bringing their living standard up to the minimum can be introduced by: (1) exporting of natural resources, (2) migration, (3) immigration or resettlement, (4) regional planning, or world-wide org. Though there is a strong need for transnat'l efforts, most efforts for helping people are intergov'al. New gov's exploit poverty by appealing to the world's conscience. There is a need for nationhood within which every people may find dignity & take responsibility in certain ways for their fellow citizens, & in other ways for all other peoples. Use of the term `overdeveloped' for a nation may mean overconsumption, or the indices of soc disorg (crime, suicide, alcoholism, etc), in those industrial countries with most advanced pol'al democracy & welfare state org. The term raises the question of whether TDT, assumed to be a good thing, should be pursued so singlemindedly. These prices are paid because people fail to recognize their own econ potential. Singlescale development will result in a hierarchy of citizenship as well as of nations. Nations are, & should be, diff from each other. Units of econ development should meet technical, not nat'l, criteria. A series of overlapping structures must be arranged, which are so acephalous that it will be as difficult for any member to destory them as it will be unprofitable for any member to withdraw. AA.