Radio days: Media-politics in Indonesia

In the recent excitement about the democratizing potential of the 'new' electronic media, theorists have largely ignored the role of the oldest of the electronic 'mass' media, that is, radio. This paper suggests several parallels between the oldest and the newest electronic media in the transmission of anti-authoritarian politics in Indonesia. While the Internet aided sections of the civil society in subverting the state's control over public discourse, in the post-authoritarian politics, radio may remain by far the more significant technology of democratization. Radio's importance is only in part explained by the economic limits on the distribution of the Internet in Indonesia. We need to look at the particular tessellation of culture, politics and technology in Indonesia to understand the role of radio in the articulation of local politics, in a democratization process whose success depends on the politics of ethno-cultural decentralization and devolution of power from urban elites.     

Development legislation in Africa

This is the second of two articles attempting to contribute to the debate on the trends in absolute real incomes amongst propertyless groups in semi‐industrialized countries. It is based on empirical data for the standard of living of industrial working‐class households in one of the principal centres of the capitalist periphery (the Brazilian city of São Paulo) between the mid‐1930s and the mid‐1970s. Evidence is presented on real earnings trends, the composition of household expenditure, food consumption, and housing standards. The results run counter to the current view of the absolute impoverishment of the great majority of the population, but also reveal unexpected changes in the composition of consumption. An attempt is made to account for the results in terms of the analytical discussion presented in Part I of this paper, which was published in the January 1983 issue of this Journal.     

Corruption in India: Control measures and consequences

Much has been written on corruption in the Third World. Studying the phenomenon of transactional corruption, however, is fraught with many shortcomings. The insidious corruption of subverting the regimes or abusing the constitution for political or partisan gain is paid little attention. This article analyses corruption in India within its social, cultural, and political contexts. The workings of the various anti‐corruption measures are also examined. The concept of regime corruption is studied. The article concludes that curbing corruption largely depends upon the social attitudes. In particular, the political parties should not only take the blame for the current situation, they should also play an active role in correcting the pernicious practice of corruption.     

Health care technology assessment: A policy planning tool

Health care technology has developed more rapidly than have the tools to aid decisions regarding that technology's assessment, acquisition and allocation. This article proposes theoretical and technological bases for formulating and analyzing policies for technology assessment. A computerized procedure for measurement and reporting of judgmental sources of technology assessment is presented, accompanied by a pilot study illustrating how the procedure can be used for both research and practical applications.     

A spatial model of legislative voting with perceptual error

This paper presents a unidimensional spatial model of voting in which members of Congress vote based on an imprecise perception of roll-call alternatives. The model is applied to the Senate roll-call votes of 1977 to estimate the ideal points of the senators, and to examine the role of a liberal-conservative dimension in describing votes on economic issues relative to social issues. In light of the spatial model, the paper argues that “standard” models of roll-call voting are not based on a theory of choice, and hence, that it is difficult to interpret their results. Alternatives to standard models, based on the spatial model, are developed and are used to analyze the role of ideology in deciding a specific economic issue: coal strip-mining.     

Morality of Public Deficits: A Historical Perspective

This article examines the morality of public deficits through the views of political leaders, economists and public finance experts. It looks at the changing attitude about borrowing for the modern state and examines the ability of current generations to shift the debt burden to future generations. The article also explores whether the adoption of an organic or individualistic concept of the role of the state affects conclusions concerning the morality of public debt.     

“Promoter” as an agency in decline of “market orientation” across small scale enterprises in Andhra Pradesh: Study on three selected districts

The study emphasizes the exploration of the influences that “promoter” of the small‐scale unit exerts in shaping the loss of market orientation in regional perspective. The small‐scale firm‐based “inefficiencies” have been measured with aid of the factors “promoter's entrepreneurial orientation,” “faulty resource based planning,” “inefficient managerial control,” and “improper capacity utilization.” The factors were shortlisted after extensive review of the existing literature, theoretical frameworks, and the conceptual notes with regard to the phenomenon of the market orientation decline or industrial sickness across the small‐scale units. The study across promoters of 300 sick industrial units observed the incidence of the sizable and quantifiable impact of the promoter in shaping the prospects for small‐scale unit‐based survival.     

Budgeting by the Ballot: Initiatives in the State of Montana

Citizen participation in the decision-making process and government's responsiveness to people's needs constitute the core of the democratic ethic. Three institutional arrangements are devised to make democracy more democratic: initiatives, referenda, and recall. This article deals specifically with the initiative process in the State of Montana. While citizen participation could be an end in itself, it is viewed here as a means to achieve specific ends. Three different initiatives are studied using four criteria to determine the efficacy of the process.