The "Polish Problem"– American War-Time Perspectives

As one of the initial, and arguably most devastated, casualties of the Second World War, Poland's restoration as a free and independent state was seen as a test case for the viable continuation of the victorious Grand Alliance. Yet seemingly irreconcilable differences between the Western powers and the Soviet Union over intricate territorial and political issues (with the Polish state and people caught firmly in the middle) would signal the end of the working alliance. The US collectively struggled to come to terms with this "Polish problem"– its government failing to deliver to the Poles on those democratic principles enshrined within the Atlantic Charter, and its people finding the very ideals for which they had gone to war compromised. While reflecting the unique complexities of this particular dilemma, American officialsrsquo; perceptions of the conundrum over Poland bear a ringing familiarity to future East European developments and certainly set the tone for the ensuing West-Soviet impasse there. Indeed, this author would not be alone in suggesting that the superpower struggle over Poland at the close of World War II was itself the very genesis of the Cold War conflict.     

Indicative planning: failure or success?

Abstract. Two forms of national economic planning are distinguished imperative planning (planning with controls) and indicative (persuasive) planning. The trend away from controls in the Soviet Union is briefly treated. The French planning machinery and the factors determining the initial success of the French method of planning by inducement, its subsequent decline, and its anticipated recovery are outlined. Greater attention is paid to the more democratic British experiment in planning by consensus, with particular emphasis on the structure and evolution of the planning institutions and their strengths and weaknesses. Reasons for the British attempt at national economic planning and for its failure are also indicated while the aborted move towards greater intervention in the private sector is analysed in depth. The author concludes that the new emphasison planning the public sector, using both central policy reviews and annual five-year expenditure projections linked with economic assessments, is likely to prove more effective than earlier methods and that the deliberate retreat from planning the entire economy will prove a sound basis for a subsequent advance. Sommaire. L'auteur distingue deux sortes de planifications de l'économie nationale- la planification imposée (planification avec contrôles) et la planification suggérée (par persuasion). Puis il traite rapidement de la tendance en Union Soviétique d'abandonner les contrôles. L'auteur explique ensuite le mëcanisme français de planification, les facteurs qui ont déterminé le succès initial de la méthode française de planification par encouragement, son déclin subséquent et l'anticipation de son renouveau. Il examine ensuite plus en détail l'expérience britannique, d'un caractère plus démocratique, qui consiste à planifier par accordg général en insistant particulièrement sur la structure et l'évolution des institutions de planification, sur leurs points forts et sur leurs points faibles. Il expose les raisons des efforts britanniques de planification de l'économie nationale et pourquoi ils ont échoé et analyse en profondeur la tentative avortée d'une plus grande intervention dans le secteur privé. L'auteur conclut que la nouvelle importance accordée à la planification du secteur public en se servant à la fois de révisions des politiques-clés et d'estimations annuelles des dépenses quinquennales par rapport aux évaluations économiques, risque de se montrer plus efficace, comme méthode, que les précédentes et que l'abstention délibéreé d'une planification totale de l'économie permettra de faire un pas en avant.     

Local government in the Canadian provincial north

Abstract. The purpose of this article is to explore the difficulties inherent in the organization of local government in large and geographically remote areas and the responses to those problems over time in a comparative cross-provincial perspective. After defining the provincial north, the article traces the origin and early development of local government structures in the provincial north to indicate just how these structures differ from those in the southern regions of the provinces. The article then discusses the range and nature of the problems faced by northern communities. This is followed by an analysis of the desires of northern local governments and the manner in which they express them. The final section describes the nature of governmental responses to the demands expressed by local governments. Sommaire. Le but de cet article est d'enqêter sur les difficultés inhérentes à l'organisation du gouvernement local dans de grandes régions gégraphiquement isolées et le traitement de ces problèmes sur une période de temps et ce dans une perspective interprovincial comparative, Après avoir défini le nord provincial, l'auteur retrace l'origine et l'ébauche du développement des structures de gouvernement local dans le nord provincial pour montrer en quoi celles-ci diffèrent de celles des régions du sud des provinces. Il analyse ensuite les desiderata des gouvernements locaux du nord et leur façon de les exprimer. Il consacre le dernier chapitre à l'analyse de la nature des réactions gouvernementales aux exigences manifestées par les gouvernements locaux.