bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mental health, race and ethnicity: a retrospective study of the care of ethnic minorities and whites in a psychiatric unit
Authors: Crowley John J , Simmons Susan
Published: December 2006

A retrospective case‐note study of 152 discharged psychiatric patients (77 subjects of ethnic minority origin and 75 whites) examined for details of follow‐up arrangements on discharge, compliance rate with out‐patient appointments and details on length of stay, status on admission, employment status, record of illicit drug taking and diagnosis The results show that in the areas of diagnosis, possible illicit drug involvement, status on admission and length of stay, there are significant differences between Afro‐Caribbean subjects and others
Caring in the preparation of long‐term psychiatric patients for non‐institutional care: ethnonursing study
Authors: Nikkonen Merja
Published: December 2006

Caring is the central and unifying domain for the body of knowledge and practices in nursing It was the purpose of this ethnonursing study to describe caring in the residential training for long‐term psychiatric patients in Finland in 1977–1988 Data were collected by interviewing 20 patients and 11 members of staff On the basis of the empirical data, four stages of caring could be distinguished formation, reformation, fragmentation and reintegration The changes in caring occurred on the following dimensions work for wages vs vocation, spontaneous social interaction vs the systematic instruction of practical skills, and collective activities vs individual activities
On laying the foundations for an empirico–logical model of mental health nursing
Authors: Holdsworth Nicholas
Published: December 2006

This paper argues that nursing is an elemental activity, the first concern of which is a person's experience of illness, not the causes of that experience Any model of nursing should begin with an account of that experience and deduce from that what it is that nurses ought to do in order to explain what it is that they actually do The logical form of such a model is delineated An account of the experience of illness is offered and the nursing imperatives implied by such an account are stated in terms of securing client safety, obviating the client's experience by treatment and motivating the client to sustain or resume ordinary activities of life These dimensions of nursing care — safety, treatment and motivation — were tested against the actual activities of mental health nurses in three services and were found to have utility as categories of nursing activity A summary of that research is given and an outline of a model of mental health nursing suggested by the results is given
Evaluation of teaching: a review of the literature
Authors: Ward‐Griffin Catherine , Brown Barbara
Published: December 2006

Although most faculty members would agree that teaching is a vital component of their role, the evaluation of teaching continues to receive less attention than the evaluation of other academic pursuits This paper reviews the nursing and education literature related to the evaluation of teaching The bulk of the literature reviewed focused on the following current issues of faculty evaluation, appraisal criteria of effective teaching, and evaluators of teaching effectiveness The paucity of literature related to the process of faculty evaluation provides further evidence that there is a gap between what institutions say is important and what is actually practised The implementation of faculty evaluation models may be one remedy to this current problem
Changing attitudes towards families of hospitalized children from 1935 to 1975: a case study
Authors: Young Judith
Published: December 2006

The introduction of‘open’ visiting and family involvement in the care of hospitalized children created a revolution in the care of children in hospitals This historical study utilized the situation at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto (HSC), as a case study illustrating change Although psychological research provided a strong rationale for including families in the care of hospitalized children, change occurred slowly In this regard, HSC was typical of many children's hospitals However, there seemed to be a significant failure to learn from innovations elsewhere Paediatric nurses, in particular, were slow to encourage family visiting and participation in care
Health beliefs: a cultural division?
Authors: McAllister Gillian , Farquhar Morag
Published: December 2006

Uptake of preventive health programmes seems to be related to people's underlying motivations, attitudes and beliefs about health and illness Current theories used to account for variance in behaviours by social group (such as the health belief model and locus of control model) explain only some of the variance in these motivations and attitudes, and have not been adequately tested on women from different ethnic minority groups Health beliefs have important implications for nursing given the role of the nurse in health promotion and patient teaching This paper identifies and compares the health beliefs of women of Asian origin and white indigenous women living in an inner‐London borough, through in‐depth semi‐structured interviews, and considers the findings in relation to health promotion practices and the role of the nurse The Asian women rated their health as worse than the white women, this requires further study Comments and views gathered about the causes of vanous diseases indicated that it may be unrealistic to fit a person's health beliefs into a distinct model Beliefs about disease appeared to be culturally sensitive, health education, therefore, must also be culturally sensitive
Research and the practice of midwifery*
Authors: Sleep Jennifer
Published: December 2006

During the past decade, the professional journals have contained numerous papers authored by nurses and nurse–researchers describing the gap which persists between research and clinical practice Problems have been highlighted and challenges explored in the quest to discover ways of encouraging practitioners to become more aware of research evidence as a knowledge base for practice Many of the identified issues may be transposed into a midwifery setting but other factors may be recognized which are specific to the practice of midwifery This paper considers both conceptual and pragmatic issues in an attempt to explore the complexity of the influences which may affect the integration of research into midwifery practice
Evaluating the quality of patient care in district nursing
Authors: Toms Eleanor C
Published: December 2006

This paper examines the process of evaluating the quality of care provision in district nursing at a local level The definitions of audit and quality assurance are considered, and the current situation in community nursing is briefly compared with that in hospital settings Finally, the use of evaluative tools in practice is examined, together with ways in which district nursing evaluation can be improved
King and Neuman: in search of the nursing paradigm
Authors: Burney Mary A
Published: December 2006

There is a wellspring of support within the nursing profession for the development of a true nursing paradigm, based on a unified theory to support practice, to advance the professional status of nursing in a changing health care environment In this, the preparadigm stage of nursing, there are at least 125 theories, many of them viable Prominent among them are those of King and Neuman The King theory is rooted in the effectiveness of human interaction between nurse and patient to set and achieve health goals The Neuman theory is a stress‐oriented system espousing the development of patient defences and resistance The similarities outnumber the differences between the two Both seek a conceptual foundation upon which the profession may be structured to achieve its highest ideals
Adam Smith and Natural Liberty
Authors: Campbell T. D.
Published: December 2006

The system of natural liberty analyzed in the Wealth of Nations is evaluated by Smith in utilitarian terms, as may be seen by examining his reasons for permitting departures from the principle of laisser-faire. References to justice in the Wealth of Nations are interpreted in the light of the Moral Sentiments which, despite appearances to the contrary, also has a utilitarian value basis. Smith's ‘contemplative utilitarianism’, coupled with his belief that individual moral and political agents do not routinely make conscious utilitarian choices, manifests itself politically in a form of ‘sociological conservatism’ which restricts legal and political reforms to those which are in harmony with the immediate moral feelings of the ordinary citizen. This is demonstrated in his theory of political obligation and related to his natural theology.
The Political Thought of Richard Cumberland: Sovereignty and the Escape from the Search for Origins
Authors: Kirk Linda
Published: December 2006

Much of what seventeenth-century writers and preachers had to say about allegiance was framed in terms of deference to the past: subjects owed obedience now because they were heirs to some ancient obedience rightfully exacted. Patriachalists and contractualists alike supposed that questions of legitimacy were best resolved by examining what they took to be the origins of human society. Eventually it became possible to construct a utilitarian political theory which instead judged a given system in terms of the needs it met; Richard Cumberland's De Legibus Naturae (1672) marks an important stage in this process. His cosmology is Christian and his political theory shares many trappings with those of his contemporaries, but from an examination of human interdependence he succeeds in establishing an unequivocally utilitarian account of sovereignty.
Angels in Plastic: The Liberal Surge in 1974
Authors: Alt James , Crewe Ivor , Särlvik Bo
Published: December 2006

Before the Liberal surge in 1974, survey research stressed that the Liberal vote was electorally volatile, socially representative, and negative in character. Data from 1974 indicates that the volatility of the Liberal vote owes more to the absence of a large core of stable Liberal voters than to any difference among parties in their ability to retain the votes of recent converts. Moreover, the small core of regular Liberal voters is unusually middle-aged and middle-class, socially very different from the larger and socially representative body of occasional Liberal voters. In the eyes of the electorate, the Liberal Party continues to have a diffuse image, largely devoid of any specific policy content. The Party benefited from dissatisfaction with the state of the country, but there is no evidence that an image of classlessness contributed to its electoral success. Moreover, while most Liberal voters did so for some positive reason, many of their reasons had more to do with style than policy, and the personalities of party leaders appear to have had much to do with moving people to consider—if not actually vote for—the Liberal Party.
The Thesis of the Two Mills
Authors: Rees John
Published: December 2006

How successful was J. S. Mill in reconciling the various elements in his thought which, on his own account, he tried to weave together in the period after he ceased to be a dogmatic Benthamite? This much discussed issue is raised afresh by some recent studies, especially Gertrude Himmelfarb's On Liberty and Liberalism and Paul Feyerabend's Against Method. The former argues that there is a conflict between the Mill of On Liberty and the conception of liberty to be found in his other writings, whilst the latter claims that On Liberty is not only a corrective to Mill's Logic but to all attempts to lay down rules for the conduct of scientific enquiry. Can these versions of the ‘two Mills thesis' be sustained?
Responsible Party Government and Stable Coalition: The Case of the German Federal Republic
Authors: Pulzer Peter
Published: December 2006

The paper examines the internal stability of the S.P.D.–F.D.P. coalition which has governed the Federal Republic since 1969 and in particular the way in which foreign policy determined relations between government and opposition between 1969 and 1972. It also examines the ideological divisions within the S.P.D. and C.D.U./C.S.U., their exacerbation by the close result of the 1976 election and the effect this could have on further developments. It concludes that the ‘stable coalition’ in power since 1969, even if it fails to last its full term, is an important variant in the recognized typology of governments, and therefore of interest to the student of comparative government.
Law and Politics in Germany
Authors: Blair Philip
Published: December 2006

German politics are still influenced by the tradition of legalism. Constitutional provisions often serve as criteria of political argument, and constitutional principles (e.g. the ‘social state’) and basic rights may be portrayed as programmatic ‘commandments' justifying specific political demands.

The corollary is a propensity towards judicial, and thus ‘authoritative’, solutions to political disputes. The post-war establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court with comprehensive constitutional jurisdiction and easy access for the political actors has subjected major political issues to legal adjudication. Increasingly appeal to the Court has become a weapon of opposition, resorted to by the Christian Democrats to challenge such measures as the Basic Treaty with East Germany and the Abortion Reform.

Despite general self-restraint vis-à-vis the political authorities, the Court has sometimes construed basic rights expansively as ‘participatory’ rights to positive government action. Recently it has been criticised for ‘conservatism’ and a tendency to restrict future legislative discretion.

The ‘politicization of justice’, emerging from the judicialization of politics, could affect respect for the Court as authoritative arbiter. But it may foster a healthier relationship between politics and the law.
Images of the ‘Floating Voter’: Or, the ‘Political Business Cycle’ Revisited
Authors: Mosley Paul
Published: December 2006

This paper interprets the British government's failure to achieve better control of the business cycle, not in terms of technical inefficiency, but as a politically rational pursuit of a class of ‘floating voters' perceived by it to change their economic priorities according to the variable which is currently ‘in crisis’. It then investigates whether this perception is accurate, and finds broadly in the affirmative in spite of a growing salience of inflation over time, on the strength of Gallup poll data from 1953–75. The finding of previous studies that government popularity declines cyclically between elections is interpreted in terms of its greater discretion in matters of economic (and other) policy variables in the mid-term, and the hypothesis is put forward that a more economically informed electorate might ipso facto have less unstable preferences.
How to Be Sophisticated, Lie, Cheat, Bluff and Win at Politics
Authors: Laver Michael
Published: December 2006

This paper presents an informal argument about the relationship between strategic interaction and ‘economic’ theories of political processes. It is concerned with interactions between small groups of rational actors, in which each knows the preferences of the others and is attempting to get the better of the others. In these circumstances, the outcome is usually determined by the strategic interaction involved and is often, therefore, rather unstable. Since formal models in themselves do not help us very much to interpret the processes involved, the bulk of the paper is concerned with an analysis of various aspects of strategic interaction. These include being sophisticated, lying, cheating and bluffing.
Confusion and Reality in Public Policy: The Case of the British Urban Programme
Authors: McKay David , Cox Andrew
Published: December 2006

The paper concentrates on the realization of an inner city or urban problem in British politics in the mid-1960s. Rejecting the conventional explanation of the resultant ‘urban programme’ as solely the consequence of Labour reactions to Enoch Powell's ‘rivers of blood’ speech in 1968, the paper assesses the utility of a number of explanations for the gestation and ultimate shape of this new policy direction. Interest-group, elite and Marxist interpretations are also rejected, while amorphous academic ideas and bureaucratic domination of an embryonic policy agenda are offered as the two most plausible explanations of the subsequent shape of the ‘urban programme’. The paper concludes with an assessment of the impact of poorly conceived policy responses in generating more viable alternatives.
Defining Democracy: A Bid for Coherence and Consensus
Authors: May John D.
Published: December 2006

For a short, definite, non-sectarian definition of democracy, I nominate Responsive Rule qua necessary correspondence between acts of governance and the desires with respect to those acts of the persons who are affected. This definition seems noteworthy, and perhaps commendable, for essentiality, or concentrating on the nature of democracy as distinct from its concomitants and merits; for generality, or congeniality with the notion that democracy can in principle exist in all sorts of human groups; for nominal quantifiability, or compatibility with the notion that democracy is both an ideal-type state and a matter of degree; and for clarity with respect to conceptual issues which commonly arise in talk about ‘democracy’. It deals definitely with the ‘government by’ and ‘government for’ conceptual traditions, with the primary object of popular control, with the identity of ‘the people,’ with the sort of equality that is a property to democracy, and with the sources of popular control over governors in a democracy.
Keeping the Centre Small: Explanations of Agency Type
Authors: Hood Christopher
Published: December 2006

British government ‘growth’ in the recent past has not been reflected in a growing civil service. Bureaucratic expansion has largely taken place in local authorities and in central non-Departmental bodies. Explaining growth in the second area requires an explanation of why government agencies should be constituted in one form rather than another, and four explanations are considered. They are random theories, theories relating agency type to the administrative fashions current at the time of an agency's creation, managerial theories relating agency type to functional task, and political theories relating agency type to political considerations such as outflanking tactics and political sensitivity. A major theme of the article is that no single explanation appears to be adequate on its own, but rather that a multi-factor explanation is needed.
Lobbying, Administrative Reform and Policy Styles. The Case of Land Drainage
Authors: Richardson J. J. , Jordan A. G. , Kimber R. H.
Published: December 2006

In this article we analyse the successful attempt by a group of interests concerned with water reorganization during the early 1970s to prevent a radical change in administrative arrangements concerning land drainage. Despite the apparently esoteric nature of the policy area, the ‘politics of land drainage’ was fundamentally concerned with the important matter of what has been called ‘the business concept’ of government. The case study also provides a useful insight into the way in which established interests may have succeeded in ‘colonizing’ certain central government departments. This suggests that a model of pressure group activity depicting pressure on the centre may be misleading for certain areas of policy. We also suggest that the evidence provided by a study of the politics of water reorganization sheds some light on contrasting departmental styles of policy-making.
On Locke's State of Nature
Authors: Anglim John
Published: December 2006

John Locke's Two Treatises use the ‘state of nature’ to refer (1) to a core condition in which human persons lack an authoritative, common, human superior, (2) which is the original condition of all human peoples, but which (3) became such an inconvenience for some peoples as their social and economic life develops that they leave it by forming government, but which (4) remains as the condition of some peoples, Locke thought, in his own day, and (5) is a constant potential and actual feature of all human communities in respect of the possibility of tyranny, or absolute monarchy, or revolution, or withdrawal. Closely examining the Treatises suggests that obeying the natural law leads human persons and their communities to pass from usage 2 to usage 3.
Elites, Participation, and the Democratic Creed
Authors: Femia Joseph V.
Published: December 2006

The primary purpose of this paper is to cast doubt on the theoretical and empirical soundness of two well-known survey studies of public opinion, ‘Consensus and Ideology in American Politics' by McClosky, and ‘Fundamental Principles of Democracy, Bases of Agreement and Disagreement’ by Prothro and Grigg. That these articles contributed to the pluralist orthodoxy of the fifties and early sixties is evident from their data and conclusions, which can be summarized as follows: (1) it cannot be claimed that the United States enjoys a wide democratic consensus; the majority of citizens exhibit only a superficial commitment to democratic norms and ideas; (2) rather, it is the social and political elites who are the main repositories of democratic virtue; therefore (3) any attempt greatly to increase popular participation would needlessly expose present institutions to authoritarian pressures. Although the past decade or so has witnessed a rehabilitation of radical democratic theory, these articles have enjoyed remarkable freedom from serious criticism. Indeed, their findings have become conventional academic wisdom. Through a detailed analysis, I attempt to demonstrate that the questionnaires used in the two investigations are both carelessly constructed and arbitrarily tied to a narrow, a historical conception of democracy. It is also argued that both studies are marred by a fundamental contradiction common (though hitherto undetected) in pluralist writing.
The Conservative Party and the Trade Unions since 1974
Authors: Moran Michael
Published: December 2006

Public policy on industrial relations can be interpreted as a variation on three traditional themes: individualism; voluntary collectivism; and compulsory collectivism. Before 1974 the Conservative Party had at various times been committed to policies suggested by all these traditions. Since the Party's expulsion from government in that year arguments between Conservatives over industrial relations have likewise involved choices between policies suggested by the three traditions. Despite superficial signs of a revival of individualism in the Party, the substance of policy has been decisively shaped by voluntary collectivism.
Vote Trading: An Attempt at Clarification
Authors: Russell Clifford S.
Published: December 2006

The aim of this paper is to clarify the continuing debate about the theoretical characteristics of vote trading. It sets about this by first emphasizing existing distinctions among types of vote trading systems, most importantly, the distinction between trades on entire platforms characterizing social states (implicit vote trading) and trades on the individual issues making up the platforms (explicit vote trading). The subdivisions of the latter type are more carefully explored, with the key results being that: while all vote trading systems may lead to circularity in the attempt to choose; and while implicit vote trading inevitably involves such circularity; vote trading over individual, independent issues may be stable. The challenge to the social choice field is therefore to be more careful in specifying the conditions of foresight, renegotiability and the like, and to compare theoretical systems for explicit vote trading with actual legislative rules.
Territorial Politics and Equality: Decentralization in the Modern State
Authors: Ashford Douglas E.
Published: December 2006

The growth of the public sector over the past two decades has not eliminated the importance of local government, and may have actually increased conflict over policies affecting local government. To understand these changes a more articulated concept of centralization is needed which can encompass the reciprocal relationships of various levels of government, and which takes into account their shared claim on national revenues. Using national accounting data, the effect of the growth of public spending from 1963 to 1973 is compared with the relative share allotted to local government in five countries. These trends in the distribution of resources are then compared with the fiscal and financial policies affecting each local government system. The conclusion is that the alternative ways that countries chose to provide resources to the local level may be a better way of gauging relative degrees of centralization over time than the more commonly used absolute measures.
Intentions and Conventions: A Critique of Quentin Skinner's Method for the Study of the History of Ideas
Authors: Mulligan Lotte , Richards Judith , Graham John
Published: December 2006

This paper plays critic to Quentin Skinner's much tougher role as methodological innovator in the practice of the history of ideas. It argues that the continuing centrality of intentions in Skinner's proposals as illustrated in his historical examples results in descriptions which are too often unproven or unproveable or unenlightening or wrong. Serious doubts are raised about the theoretical propriety of Skinner's doctrine of intentions as a key to the proper understanding of historical texts, and the legitimacy of the explanatory power Skinner attributes to his imputed intentions is disputed.
‘Traditions’ as Context in the History of Political Theory
Authors: Lockyer Andrew
Published: December 2006

An adequate methodology in the history of political theory is dependent on a adequate philosophy of history. Firstly, in the course of a critical consideration of other writers on methodology (principally W. G. Greenleaf and Q. Skinner) it is suggested that ‘intellectual traditions’, of two sorts, might provide an appropriate unit of context. Secondly, a broadly anti-naturalist philosophy of history is adopted, which makes use of Collingwood and Hegel, and it is argued that intellectual traditions are compatible with this view of historical knowledge. It is concluded that the opposition between the universalist text-orientated approach and the particularist historical approach to the study of the history of political theory is a false dichotomy. We can learn from past ideas as a traditional inheritance.
Kennedy and Congress: The Struggle for the New Frontier
Authors: Williams Robert J. , Kershaw David A.
Published: December 2006

The article attempts to develop an interpretation of some of the more important domestic aspects of the Kennedy administration. In particular, it focuses on Kennedy's relations with Congress and on the difficulty of reconciling his reputation as a skilful politician with his legislative disappointments. Case studies of three important bills reveal a consistent, if unsuccessful, legislative strategy. The manner in which the Kennedy administration has been evaluated is considered and the article concludes by locating the source of Kennedy's legislative difficulties in the circumstances of his nomination campaign.
Ethnicity and Voting Patterns in South Africa
Authors: Lever Henry
Published: December 2006

There is some controversy concerning the role of ethnicity in South African electoral behaviour. Since the society is segmented on ethnic lines it is to be expected that ethnicity would play a crucial role in affecting political choices. Some writers have gone so far as to suggest that ethnicity is the only significant factor affecting voting preferences. The controversy arose at a time when Goodman's method of log-linear analysis for hierarchical models had not yet been developed. This method provides the most powerful tool available for the multivariate analysis of categorical data. A re-analysis of previously published research using Goodman's method shows that ethnicity is not the only significant factor having a bearing on voting preferences. The first four-way table of voting preferences in South Africa is presented. The order of importance of the variables affecting party choice is: (1) ethnicity (2) socio-economic status (3) age of the voter. The recursive model suggested by the analysis explains approximately 98 per cent of the data.
Empirical Investigation of the Mobilization of Bias in Community Power Research
Authors: Polsby Nelson W.
Published: December 2006

This article examines four ways in which the ‘two faces of power’ argument might be, or has been, subjected to empirical test. These include taking into account the impact of structure and socialization; re-defining ‘non-decisions' as observable acts; substituting the question ‘who benefits' for ‘who governs’; and, finally, comparisons between cities. The analysis concludes that each poses difficulties of empirical verification, some of which can be overcome, some not. Even if overcome however, they would not nullify existing findings on power in communities.
Idiotic Politics
Authors: Berry Christopher J.
Published: December 2006

The essay analyses, from the writings of Marx and, more particularly, from some contemporary thinkers, the assumptions behind the pejorative assessment of bourgeois Western society as alienated and privatized (idiotic) and in more detail, the remedial prescriptions of community and participation (polity). The assessments assume capitalism as the culprit and regard politics as ubiquitous. The key assumption in the prescriptions is that man is a communal being. Two questions are asked of this assumption. The first examines the accommodation of the individual within his community and demonstrates the distinctive sense of sociality implied. The second question examines the rationale of industrial democracy and points up a connection with a conception of real interests. The cogency of the assumptions and the critique depend on the evaluations of the evidence but what that will demonstrate is itself problematic.
Is it Better to Be Powerful or Lucky? Part 2
Authors: Barry Brian
Published: December 2006

Part I of this article comprising sections i–i, which appeared in the issue for June 1980 (Vol. XXVIII, No. 2), offered a critique of some standard power indices. Part 2 is devoted to working out an alternative way of thinking about power. Section iv defines success as luck plus decisiveness. Section v illustrates the use of these concepts by applying them to the example of the US Constitutional Convention. Section vi offers a definition of power in terms of the conditions under which an actor can be decisive. It is then suggested that power should increase in importance to an actor the more uncertain that actor is of the likely alignment of forces in the relevant period of time.
The Political Implications of Sectoral Cleavages and the Growth of State Employment: Part 1, the Analysis of Production Cleavages
Authors: Dunleavy Patrick
Published: December 2006

Class dealignment in British politics provides a context within which existing interpretations of non-class production cleavages need to be reassessed. In Part 1 of this paper, three approaches are considered which tend to assimilate production locations into occupational or social class—empiricist analyses, Weberian accounts, and radical Weberian/conventional Marxist interpretations. All three focus primarily on unionization, which is seen either as a mediated index of occupational class or as an element of within-class variations in value predispositions also including political alignment. Conventional Marxist approaches alone consider differences between privately and publicly employed workers, but in terms of classifying the social class position of state workers. In contrast to/these approaches, a theory of production sectors is put forward. This interprets the whole range of production locations, especially union/non-union and public/private employment differences, in terms of cross-class interests generated by labour market segmentation between capital sectors. In Part 2 (next issue), this sectoral model is developed in an empirical analysis of production cleavages and party differentiation, and of sectoral influences on political alignment, in contemporary Britain.
Utopia Defended against the Liberals
Authors: Goodwin Barbara
Published: December 2006

The polarity between the utopian form of thought and liberalism is analysed first with the unsatisfactory mediation of the idea of totalitarianism, then through a comparison of liberal empiricist epistemology with the necessarily rationalist, theoretical approach of utopians. Incompatible world-views make utopianism anathema to liberals, whatever its content. Utopia is defended against charges of intolerance, unfreedom and coerciveness, partly through a critique of liberal concepts. The utopianism which liberals denigrate appears largely their own invention. Utopians conversely eschewed liberal democracy because, with some justification, they thought elites natural. Similarities between utopianism and radical democracy are elucidated. The apparent, surprising rapprochement between the utopian outlook and that of pluralist democracy is analysed. Finally, the value of a utopian approach to political theory is asserted.
The Retreat from Idealism: Reflections on Some Aspects of Contemporary East European Marxist Thought
Authors: Berki R. N.
Published: December 2006

The nature of Marxist doctrine is explained here by reference to the opposed tendencies of political idealism and political realism. These two can be detected in Marx's own writings, with idealism being dominant. The idealist tendency also prevailed in the official ideology of Leninism and Stalinism. The realist tendency, latent for a long period, is now being seen to emerge more clearly in the writings of many East European Marxists who accept the fundamental tenets of official Marxism yet show themselves critical of some of its aspects. Their realism is manifested in the belief that, first, the socialist order of society contains antagonisms which are in some respects similar to those of capitalism, and secondly that basic existential problems are incapable of a definitive solution even in conditions of communism. Some constructive political proposals, advocating the introduction of a kind of pluralism, are analysed here and commented on critically. Also some philosophical views which start out from the recognition that alienation is an enduring feature of socialist society receive critical evaluation; they are shown to be self-contradictory. The article concludes by arguing, first, that the dualistic state of Marxist doctrine in Eastern Europe is likely to persist there for some time to come, and secondly that Marxist idealism is an ideology inapplicable to post-capitalist conditions, including those of East European society.
Economic Development and the Growth of Public Expenditures in Scandinavia, 1875–1965
Authors: Klingman David , Peters B. Guy
Published: December 2006

This paper examines the sources of the growth of the public sector in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark from 1875 to 1965. The analysis focuses on variations over time and across the three Scandinavian countries in the elasticity of public expenditures to growth in GNP, and in the patterns of relationship between the rate of growth of expenditures as a proportion of GNP and the rate of change in various socioeconomic, political and institutional indicators, using correlation and regression analysis of annual change-rate data. The results cast doubt on the applicability to the Scandinavian context of Herber's adaptation of Wagner's Law of the growth of the public sector in industrial society. The results also cast further doubt upon the applicability to public policy formation of the Bull–Galenson hypothesis concerning differences among the Scandinavian countries in the impact of the timing and rate of their industrialization on the radicalness of their labor movements. The variations of public policy over time and space might be better explained by anti-depression and war-time spending and by certain aspects of organizational ‘learning’, such as the tendency for policy-making behaviour to adjust only slowly to changing conditions and the post-Keynesian effort to fine-tune the economy.
Political Argument about Representation: The Case of the Maori Seats
Authors: McLeay E. M.
Published: December 2006

There has been little attention paid to the notions about group and minority representation held by political elites. This study examines the arguments put forward by New Zealand parliamentarians about representation. It concentrates upon partisan attitudes towards Maori representation in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in cabinets and discusses the effects of the four seats that are reserved for Maoris. It is argued that theorists of representation have not sufficiently considered the claims of minorities to legislative representation.
Rationalizing the Machinery of Government: The Conservatives, 1970–1974
Authors: Pollitt Christopher
Published: December 2006

The White Paper The Reorganization of Central Government (Cmnd 4506) not merely announced extensive changes in the organizational structure of Whitehall, it did so in unusually ambitious and philosophically explicit terms. This paper traces the origins of the policies announced in the white paper, identifies the main groups and individuals involved, and shows how some elements were more successfully implemented than others. The concluding analysis seeks to penetrate behind the functional-rationalist vocabulary of Cmnd 4506 and identify an underlying set of choice criteria and decision procedures which permit a fuller explanation of the events of 1970—4.
Locke and the Bourgeois State
Authors: Poole Ross
Published: December 2006

Locke's Second Treatise is presented as an attempt to provide a theorisation and justification of an essentially bourgeois state. His theory of property right is presented and certain presuppositions displayed. It is argued that the concept of class, which is absent from Locke's explicit text, nevertheless provides the key to its interpretation. Locke's failure to provide an adequate theory of political obligation is discussed in the light of this.
The Cross-National Validity of Party Identification: Great Britain and the United States Compared
Authors: Mughan A.
Published: December 2006

The question of party identification's cross-national validity revolves around the issue of whether or not it can be meaningfully distinguished from immediate voting preference in European national contexts. Comparing this relationship in the American and British party systems, however, this article demonstrates that the two forms of party support are behaviourally similar not in the case of national contexts, but of parties that are linked to the host society's cleavage structure. Moreover, it suggests that their behavioural similarity in the case of this type of party is a function of the ideological distance separating one from the other rather than of the two forms of party support tapping the same dimension of party loyalty. But, whatever the reason for the similarity, the conclusion cannot be avoided that party identification cannot serve the same range of powerful theoretical functions in Europe that it does in the United States because the former's party systems all reflect one or more long-standing, sometimes bitter, social divisions in the electorate.
Further Considerations on the Referendum: The Evidence of the Welsh Vote on Devolution
Authors: Jones Barry , Wilford Rick
Published: December 2006

Developments during the 1970s, suggest that the referendum might become a more permanent feature of British politics. The Welsh referendum provides additional evidence as to its operational characteristics, which indicates: that organized interests can play a significant, if not crucial, role; that the polarization of issues on a ‘Yes-No’ axis promotes confusion; that external events and, in particular, the government's standing, intrude on the central issue; and that it fails to resolve problems, sometimes even in the short run. Despite this the referendum is likely to be used as and when party political expedients require.
Oakeshott and the Impossibility of Philosophical Politics
Authors: Hall Dale , Modood Tariq
Published: December 2006

Oakeshott offers a radical version of the thesis that philosophy cannot evaluate or recommend political ideas. We criticize each stage of his argument that practical life excludes philosophy's desire for ultimate truth and demands a distinctive form of reasoning. Believing that practice is not susceptible to philosophical guidance because it is composed of actions, subject to change and necessarily inconsistent and uncritical of assumptions, he exaggerates its contrast with theory. Moreover, he wrongly supposes that philosophy has no practical aspect, arguing that while all practical thought must be in terms of certain concepts, philosophy transcends those which it analyses. We contend that the distinctiveness of philosophy and practice does not imply they are separate; rather philosophy is a necessary part of any reasoned evaluation of political concepts.
Is Small Really So Beautiful? Is Big Really So Ugly? Size, Effectiveness, and Democracy in Local Government
Authors: Newton K.
Published: December 2006

Arguments about the optimum size for units of local government often overlook the fact that small units have some considerable drawbacks while large ones have some advantages. By and large the discussion breaks down into two parts; those about size and functional effectiveness, and those about size and democracy. On the first count, it seems that large units are no less efficient and can be a good deal more effective than small ones. On the question of size and democracy, the evidence suggests that large units of government are no less democratic than small ones, and that in some respects they may be more so.
Liberalism, Democracy, and Development: Philosophical Dilemmas in Third World Politics
Authors: Thakur Ramesh
Published: December 2006

In Western societies, the democratic franchise came after the liberal state was firmly established. In Third World countries, the imposition of liberal democracy may generate contradictions between the market and traditional sectors of the polity. Furthermore, liberalism favours restrictive authority in order to safeguard individual rights against the state. In Third World contexts, the more urgent need may be for an interventionist state that will create conditions of minimum democratic equality for all. A government subject to constitutional checks and judicial review may cut across the developmental requirement of permissive authority. These abstract issues of political philosophy can be profitably discussed with respect to recent controversies in India.
The 1980 Us Election and after
Authors: Williams P. M. , Reilly S. J.
Published: December 2006

This article seeks to put the 1980 election in perspective, to discuss its significance for the future of US politics, and to estimate the likely impact of, and some possible reactions to the rapid shift of population, wealth, and political influence towards the west and south.

Analysis of the 1980 election results shows a heavy defeat for the Democratic party and not merely for President Carter, but no positive mandate for conservatism. However, if a Democratic recovery were based only on Republicans over-estimating their support, it would be short-lived. For it to be lasting, the party needs to regain the intellectual initiative that it has lost, and to extend its appeal in the increasingly powerful sunbelt states. Mexican-Americans, being numerous, neglected, and strategically placed, form a likely target group. They may be harder to attract than Democratic optimists suppose.
Ruling Elite Models: A Critique and an Alternative
Authors: Medding Peter Y.
Published: December 2006

The argument that theories of elite rule are ‘unrealistic’ and ‘straw men’, is rejected, and the need for such ideal-type models is demonstrated on methodological grounds. The classic ruling elite model associated with Mosca and Michels is shown to be grossly deficient. Robert Dahl's approach is critically examined. An alternative ruling elite model is proposed, and its advantages in terms of a broad theory of political power and of its methodological and empirical application, are analysed. Finally, the research implications of this alternative model are presented.
The Politics of Political Science: The Case of Comparative Legislative Studies
Authors: Morris-Jones W. H.
Published: December 2006

Politics is a feature of any associational activity but political scientists seldom systematically examine politics within their own profession. An account of the movement, essentially in the US in the 1970s, for the development of comparative legislative studies, affords a convenient case-study. An outcome of Title IX of the Foreign Assistance Act, its examination entails uncovering different strands of interest and of doctrine in relations between government (specifically the US Agency for International Development) and the academic community and also within that community.
New Histories of Political Thought for Old?
Authors: Boucher David
Published: December 2006

Over the last few years a number of books have appeared professing to have been inspired in their methodological considerations by the writings of Quentin Skinner.1 The purpose of this essay is to offer some deliberations upon two important and connected questions. First, in what way are the new histories related to the history of histories of political thought? And, secondly, how far are we on the road to achieving a consensus on the appropriate methods for studying the history of political thought?2

Before these questions can be considered I am obliged to offer a characterization, which in the form given here is little more than a caricature, of the whole of the history of histories of political thought without entering into the detail. What I offer is an attempt to capture its unity without ignoring its diversity.
Liberty, Economics, and Evidence
Authors: Frohock Fred M. , Sylvan David J.
Published: December 2006

Relationships in liberal theory between liberty and economic well-being are empirical propositions: (a) economic conditions can reach a level so low as to make the effective establishment of liberty impossible; (b) the marginal value of economic gain diminishes with respect to the value of liberty as economic conditions improve; and (c) the priority standing of liberty requires the development of social forms and conditions necessary for the establishment of liberty. Empirical data, however, do not support these assumptions. A more complex relationship between liberty and economic well-being is suggested, where (a) liberty is needed as a first condition to increase economic well-being, and (b) the very distinction between political values like liberty and economic values is jeopardized. A fusion of politics and economics may be required to account for these relationships, a point re-emphasizing the sensitivity of normative theory to empirical evidence.
West German Political Parties and the European Community: Structures without Function?
Authors: Bulmer Simon
Published: December 2006

The German party debate concerning European Community policy-making is a low key affair which contrasts greatly with the situation in Britain. This paper examines the form of the debate in the Federal Republic and argues that the nature of the European institutions, of the German party system and, particularly, of internal party policy-making account for this situation. Three short case histories are used to show the operation of the ‘German model’ of party policy-making. The conclusion is that the parties seem to lack any clear function in their activities in connection with the European Community.