RESEARCH NOTE: "THE STUBBORN SILENCE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER"1

We trained hard — but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
From Petronii Arbitri Satyricon , AD 66, attributed to Gaius Petronius.     

TWO BOOKS ON FEDERALISM1

COMMUNISM AS A WAY OF LIFE
MAX BELOFF
Nuffield College, Oxford
LOCKE'S ATLANTIS ernesto de marchi
St. Antony's College, Oxford     

Rational Choice and Community Power Structures1

The community power debate concluded with each side believing they had won. Political theorists have generalized power, making empirical investigation very difficult; urban scholars have turned their attention to more manageable empirical problems. Rational choice advances the debate, exposing the errors of all sides and facilitating a new approach which transcends structural versus individualist methods. By separating various aspects of power in urban contexts, complementary techniques such as network analysis in a bargaining framework, semi-structured interviewing and the use of text databases permits a comprehensive investigation of agenda-setting and the mobilization of bias. The paper demonstrates the utility of this approach by comparing it to 'regime theory', the latest paradigm of urban research.     

THE REGIONALISM ALTERNATIVE IN RURAL AREAS1

This study suggests that rural reigonal councils have greater support among public officials for continuing current program activities and services than their urban counterparts. It also suggests, however, that rural regionalism may have a better chance of survival in states where regional councils have a long history of service to local governments, especially in light of present federal cutbacks. Study results contrast Georgia and Michigan regional councils.     

International Relations Theory and International Distributive Justice1

International Relations theory emerged in the 1930s with the triumph of realism over utopianism, a triumph that created a discourse that has been unable to make a substantial contribution to the literature on international distributive justice which has burgeoned since the mid-1970's. The emergence of neorealist and neoliberal International Relations theory in the 1970's and 1980's made little difference; However, this consensus is now crumbling and a new body of International Relations theory, focusing on bounded communities and the ethics of inclusion and exclusion is emerging. This new work is more in tune with the concerns of political theory - although major differences remain.