International audience ; Today we are experiencing good improvements in policy, social policy and policy making. A lot of good researches have been done on these issues and helped for the development of policy. The contributions of university professors, politicians and elites cannot be considered low. And the academic papers are deployed to offer from the major theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical research. To put in their proper context the important contributions of the processes of social policy change in the construction of social development should make some notes theoretical and methodological research into social policy.
International audience Today we are experiencing good improvements in policy, social policy and policy making. A lot of good researches have been done on these issues and helped for the development of policy. The contributions of university professors, politicians and elites cannot be considered low. And the academic papers are deployed to offer from the major theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical research. To put in their proper context the important contributions of the processes of social policy change in the construction of social development should make some notes theoretical and methodological research into social policy.
There are two discernble phases in the development of the science advisory process during the period from WWII to the present. The preeminence of security & defense issues & the continuity of personal relations between a persistent group of scientists & political actors characterized the process for nearly two decades after the war -- giving rise to the "insider-outsider" typology. Moreover, it was accepted that science & scientists were olitically neutral, hence that "technical" decisions could be made apart from "political" considerations (albeit with significant political impact). This formulation began to disintegrate as a result of a number of uncoordinatd events, not in themselves foreseeable, but whose consequences were somewhat predictable. One was simply generational change. Differences of age & viewpoint made the transition a gradual & uneven one. The event that definitely proclaimed a transition was the Vietnam war which polarized young & old & promoted a revulsion against defense research & advising the government generally. Opposition to the war eventually merged with other concerns such as environmental quality & consumer protection, & provided a new & positive role of political interest for scientists to cluster around. Those who have rallied to nondefense issues do include some of the wartime & postwar advisors. But in the main, a new generation looks to activism & reform of the institutions of science & engineering to achieve the objectives & serve the needs that formerly were met by "technical experts" & "elite" leaders. AA.
China has undergone a media revolution that has transformed the domestic context for making foreign policy as well as domestic policy. The commercialization of the mass media has changed the way leaders and publics interact in the process of making foreign policy. As they compete with one another, the new media naturally try to appeal to the tastes of their potential audiences. Editors make choices about which stories to cover based on their judgments about which ones will resonate best with audiences. In China today, that means a lot of stories about Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, the topics that are the objects of Chinese popular nationalism. The publicity given these topics makes them domestic political issues because they are potential focal points for elite dis-agreement and mass collective action, and thereby constrains the way China' leaders and diplomats deal with them. Even relatively minor events involving China' relations with Japan, Taiwan, or the United States become big news, and therefore relations with these three governments must be carefully handled by the politicians in the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee. Because of the Internet, it is impossible for Party censors to screen out news from Japan, Taiwan or the United States that might upset the public. Common knowledge of such news forces officials to react to every slight, no matter how small. Foreign policy makers feel especially constrained by nationalist public opinion when it comes to its diplomacy with Japan. Media marketization and the Internet have helped make Japan China' most emotionally charged international relationship.
