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Following the psychol'ts & econ'ts, pol'al sci'ts have focused their attention on studies of the decision-making process. Sci'fic methods, analyzing the phenomenon, & making it possible to predict the outcome, have been set forth by diff investigators. The results are far from being satisfactory. In effect, it is only possible to make predictions when a minimum of knowledge, freedom & coherence presides over human decisions. If we pass from the individual to the collective, which is that of pol'al decisions, we see that the decisions of several individuals are not only `concurrent' but 'cooperative', for they tend to arrive at a single decision for the entire group. It is interesting to compare the individual choice of a consumer & the individual choice of a voter (the vote of the majority being the normal group means of arriving at a decision). Certain authors, Black in particular, do not see any diff in principle between them. Others, like Buchanan, see fundamental diff's: the consumer knows the immediate result of his choice, not the voter; the first wishes to satisfy his tastes, the latter to realize his values: above all the latter can be forced to accept a result contrary to his choice. Pol'al decisions, made in uncertainty, are thus exposed to coercion. Tr. by Z. Dana 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.

The reaction against the New Deal of Roosevelt & Truman, the fear of increased power of the State, the hostility toward ai planned society, the present prosperity of the US--these factors have favored the rebirth of a conservative ideology. Conservative Americans are not, however, senseless & reactionary defenders of laissez faire & of isolationism. Their pessimistic view of human nature, their distrust of abstract solutions, & their respect for past experience push them toward a decentralized & hierarchical state. Can this conservative ideology, which has had considerable success in US intellectual circles & in the Republican group around President Eisenhower, become an effective pol'al force? Circumstances are favorable for such a development, but against it are the egalitarianism & the belief in human achievement that are deeply rooted in the conscience of the American masses. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.

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.

Is too often believed that Chinese Communism, because it is more open & critical than Soviet Communism, can play a determining role in the liberalizing of the oriental world. In support of this thesis the contrast is made between the developments of the 2 Communisms. These optimistic views are not devoid of oversimplification. In effect, the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party since 1920 shows that the allegiance to Stalin was never rejected, & the position taken after the 20th Congress does nothing to indicate the contrary. The reasons for such loyalty are numerous: it is a personal ideal of Mao Tse-tung (as esp demonstrated in his Regarding Contradiction), it fits in with the strongly antiliberal tradition of Confucianism, & finally, the objective conditions of the Chinese economy in its march toward socialism reinforce it. These facts constitute the logical premises of a dictatorship of the Stalinist variety & seriously limit any chances of the liberalization of the regime. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.