The transition of migratory patterns in medium-sized cities

"The authors attempt to present some empirical findings regarding a phenomenon which they chose to call the 'transition in migratory patterns'.... The general hypothesis states that: changes in migratory patterns are due to an interaction between those economic, political and social processes which affect the distribution of the population; and that this interaction is also highly influenced by macroeconomic politics--an arena where technology plays a dominant role." Data are for Guadalajara and the state of Jalisco in Mexico. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Comprehensively Advance Reform of the Urban Housing System Opinion. [Summary 1991

On 31 December 1991, the Chinese State Council Housing System Reform Leading Group announced this Opinion, setting out targets, principles, and policies for the reform of the system of provisional housing in urban areas. Section 1 of the Opinion provides that the long-term goal of reform is to convert the distribution of housing from a system based on welfare allocation to one based on commodity exchange either by purchase or rental. Section 2 sets the following targets for reform: a) within the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan, the system will be converted from one of low rent to one in which the calculation of rent will be based on cost of upkeep, administration costs, and depreciation; b) by 2000, the calculation of rent will be based on the above factors, as well as interest on investment and property taxes; and c) in the long term, the calculation of rent will be based on all of the above factors, as well as land rent, insurance premiums, and profit. Section 4 deals with policies for managing various problems such as rent increases and subsidies, sales of housing, financing for housing, the system of investment in and construction of housing, and administration of housing. This Section provides that a three-level housing investment fund based on municipalities, work units, and individuals will be established.     

Facing the powers that be

Lobbyists, entrenched forces in congress and self-interested friends will try to stymie Clinton's efforts. A look at four key arenas of combat.     

The New Right and family politics

Political concern for the family has historically been intermittent; the present context is that there are considerable consequences for individuals, families, and personal life. Socioeconomic and cultural changes brought the rise of the New Right; The Thatcher (UK) and Reagan (US) administrations were committed to strengthening the traditional family. The emergence of the family as a social problem and the political agenda are discussed. The costs of liberalism were felt in a recessionary economy. The US political agenda of Carter to hold a White House Conference on the American Family never materialized. Reagan used the restoration of the traditional American family as a way to get the economy back on its feet. Moral crusaders and the new evangelical Christian movement merged with the political right; the "Gang of Four" (Republican Party right) politicians involved morally conservative communities normally outside the political area into the New Right. Grass roots organizations were mobilized on the Right. The British situation is explained; differences existed in that there were no antiabortion and moral lobby groups tied to the Right although their influence was felt. Pressure group politics is relatively novel to Britain. The Moral Majority in the US and right wing pressure groups on the Tory government are but 1 part of the New Right; it is characterized as populist, proclaiming the Radical Conservatism of Adam Smith and Edmund Burke. The approach in this article is to show the complex interactions of theory, biography, and public opinion in the practical politics of the New Right. Policy outcomes are not predictable because of ideological differences in New Right attitudes toward the family. The attitudes of the moral order and the family is exemplified in the work of Roger Scruton's neoconservative stand on social order, Robert Nozick's Kantian proposition that human beings are ends with natural inviolable rights of individual freedom, Hayak and Friedman's efficacy of the market in guarantees of freedom, and Ferdinand Mount's concern for family based in humanist, secular, and anticollectivist thought. Thatcher and Reagan both incorporated the ideological contradictions of the aforementioned positions. The failure of the New Right in implementing policy is explained. The greatest obstacle was the major demographic, economic, social, and cultural shifts which impacted on the role of women. The camp was divided. Economic policies did not strengthen the traditional family. It is likely that the family will remain as a political pressure point.     

What the doctor should do

Domestic violence is an epidemic, but physicians say it's not their problem. The A.M.A. disagrees and wants to put them in an uncomfortable new role.     

Urban growth in India: demographic and sociocultural prospects

The numerical and qualitative aspects of the growth of the Indians urban population are discussed with the benefit of data from the last 4 censuses. Thinkers exemplified by M.K. Gandhi believe that urban growth erodes Indian culture, while opponents argue that India's traditional way of life deserves to be obliterated. The "mechanics" of erosion of Indian culture is discussed under 5 headings: its locus, speed, direction, type of population shifts, and types of cities affected by growth. The village, which is the principal locus of Indian culture, is the locus affected by urbanization. The quantitative estimate of urbanization is extremely rapid: between 1951 and 1988, the urban population grew from 62 to 217 million. In this period rural numbers grew from 295 to 618 million. Because of the hugh natural increase of the rural population, the proportion of the urban population grew only from 17.3% to 23.3%. The direction of change is described as a process or cultural accretion or "interpenetration" rather than replacement of tradition by urban culture. Populations shifts account for a large amount of urban increase, a net rise in urban sector of 15 million/decade. While the 4 largest cities received the most immigrants, growing at 3.16%, the intermediate 6 cities with populations 1 million in 1981 grew even faster, at 3.48%. It is likely that India's population after the 1991 census is complete will be 910 million, with 27% urban.