From fragmentation to configuration

The rapid emergence of the policy science conception is a consequence of profound changes in the modern world, and in turn is affecting public and private decision. In broad outline European civilization has passed from a high level of homogeneity to increasing fragmentation, and more recently toward a new and comprehensive configurative outlook.(1) The differentiation of the modern world fostered the fragmentation of intellectual life. It reduced the relative number of men of knowledge who gave attention to the map of knowledge as a whole, or to the social consequences and policy implications of science and scholarship.(2) At a later stage of differentiation specialists attain a high level of involvement in the policy processes of society. Increasingly they utilize a configurative approach to the advancement and application of knowledge.(3) At first, special and exclusive interests are multiplied by differentiation and fragmentation. As the aggregate impact of men of knowledge expands, particular demands are made more universal. This is a by-product of coalition formation.(4) Configurative ways of thinking do not necessarily result in effective control by champions of democratic and peaceful policy aims unless genuine freedom of access to knowledge—to data banks—is maintained, realistic common interests are unlikely to be defined either by policy scientists or decisionmakers.Distinguished Professor of Policy Sciences, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York; Ford Foundation Professor Emeritus of the Social Sciences and Law, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.     

The interconnections of political power,psychotherapy, and world community

This study of the main evening television news programs in four European countries focuses on the framing of news surrounding a major European event, the January 1, 1999, introduction of the common European currency, the euro. We investigated the visibility of political and economic news in general and of the launch of the euro in particular. We found variations across countries in the emphasis on political and economic news, with the proportion of the newscast normally devoted to these subjects ranging from 45% to 60%. Journalists in all countries were more likely to emphasize conflict (rather than economic consequences) in framing general political and economic news. In the coverage of the launch of the euro, there was a greater emphasis on framing the news in terms of economic consequences. The findings are discussed in terms of influences on framing practices internal and external to journalism and the value of the cross-national comparative approach.     

Terrorism and the political process

In conventional terms, politics is defined according to the common usages in the context under discussion. In functional terms, politics is defined to serve the need of specialists for a common frame of reference for comparative purposes. Functionally, politics is the process of receiving and giving support in making important decisions in the social process. “Important decisions” are enforceable if challenged by the most severe sanctions available to a group (territorial, pluralistic). Terrorism as a problem is discussed in terms of policy goals, trends, conditions, and alternatives. We are particularly interested in sanctioning objectives and strategies: deterrence, withdrawal, rehabilitation, correction, prevention, and reconstruction. In a terror process we distinguish the terrorist, the proximate victim, and impact targets. Terrorists are participants in the political process who strive for political results by arousing acute anxieties. Terrorist strategy proceeds by the symbolic enhancement of instruments of procedures of destruction. Some selected systematic studies of terror are reviewed, especially as a phase of rebellion and as a system. Recurring seizures by a sense of weakness are likely to precipitate periodic revivals of terror as a strategy of territorial or pluralistic elements in the world social process.