Soviet ideological discourse and Perestroika

Abstract. The role played by Soviet ideology during the perestroika reforms has not been fully analyzed because ideology has not been seen as a structural force influencing Soviet political life. This paper charts the effect that this neglect of ideology has had on some explanations of perestroika and seeks to redress the balance. Various ways of dealing with ideology during perestroika are examined and an alternative approach to Soviet ideology (viewing it as a discourse) is developed. This approach to Soviet ideology shows that it was a vital, but unstable, element of the Communist Party's power. The approach is then applied to the Gorbachev reforms to show how ideology played a crucial part in breaking up the power of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 onwards.     

Towards a More Enabling Representation: Framing an Emergent Conceptual Approach to Measure Social Conditions Following Mega‐Event Transformation in Manaus,Brazil

This paper presents a conceptual and methodological approach for researching social conditions to understand how urban change and development affects a community and its residents. Manaus, in Brazil's Amazonia region, received much criticism after US$300 million that was spent on a 40,000+ seat (upgraded) stadium in a city with no regular sporting tournaments. This paper positions the need to look beyond tangible features and assess social impacts based on community perceptions using ethnography to locate local meanings of social transformation. Attention is needed in communities adjacent to new stadium developments in Manaus to understand inclusion, exclusion and social leveraging.     

THE ENABLING STATE: THE ROLE OF MARKETS AND CONTRACTS

Contracts have been a key element in the recent reform of British public services. Their introduction has formed part of a broader process of change in which the market structures and values have featured prominently. In practice, contracts have both brought benefits and presented problems. More particularly, greater organizational formality has raised some important issues – the role of trust and the form and practice of accountability prominent among them. Evidence from a recent esrc -supported study shows that some services (the simpler ones) have generally gained from the reforms; but the evidence for more complex ones is equivocal at best.     

The “Totality of Circumstances Test” in Section 2 of the 1982 Extension of the Voting Rights Act: A Social Science Perspective*

We discuss uses of social science definitions and research methods in judging compliance with the recently modified language of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. That Act now specifies a “totality of circumstances” effects lest for the existence of racial vote dilution. There are seven “typical” factors listed by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in its report on the 1982 Voting Rights extension as among those which may be used to establish a Section 2 violation. Because of the nature of these factors, extensive (and often conflicting) testimony by social scientists has now become an inescapable feature of Section 2 litigation. We focus particular attention on one of the seven factors, racially polarized voting, because measurement of it is, as judged by recent litigation, the most controversial, the most complex, and the most important. We also discuss at some length another factor, racial campaign appeals, which also raises issues of appropriate definition and measurement. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a standardization of terminology and operationalization in an important public policy area, and to show how social science methodology can assist legal fact-finding.