Can the Study of Politics Be Scientific? 5 страница

7. Finance and planning ministers from Algeria, Benin,
Bostwana, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Mozambique, Ni­
geria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Senegal, South Africa, Tan­
zania and Uganda pledged to establish a peer review system
to monitor one another's budgets and social policies.

8. During the UN World Conference Against Racism,
AID victims and their advocates detailed violence that people
with the disease face in Africa.

9. The World Health Organization said cigarette smok­
ing is spreading fastest among women because intense to­
bacco industry advertising targets them.

10. Governments pledged to intensify opposition to traf­
ficking in women and children but human rights advocates
say the efforts are doomed unless national laws are inte­
grated so that, for example, trafficked women would be
regarded everywhere as victims and not criminals.

11. Poverty, hunger and ill-health will increase through­
out the region because of the global economic slowdown.
The effects of global recession would be made worse by the
financial and social costs of suppressing anti-war and reli­
gious protests.

12. Governments in the region are cooperating with the
Central Intelligence Agency and Interpol, the international
police network, to determine whether local pro-Libyan groups
had any role in the September 11 terrorist attacks against
the United States.

13. The head of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Epidemi­
ology Center called for calm in the region after tests con-

_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________

firming the presence of anthrax in mail handled by US postal workers, sparked numerous reports of «white powder» by postal workers.

14. Degradation of the environment is occurring at a
rate that exceeds the creation of workable solutions despite
government efforts over the last decade, according to the
environment ministers.

15. Although women in Central America earn up to 40
percent less than men for the same work, none of the coun­
tries have strategies to correct this imbalance, according to
a study by the non-governmental Forum of Women for Cen­
tral American Integration. The study noted that women
tend to work in poorly paid, low-quality jobs, and there are
no official efforts to redress the situation.

X. TRANSLATE INTO ENGLISH:

1. Какая бы модель мировой интеграции не превали­
ровала, она должна учитывать интересы большинства.

2. Несмотря на определённые трудности, существу­
ют объективные условия для создания международных
организаций, необходимых для решения глобальных
проблем.

3. Степень глобализации во многом зависит от техно­
логической оснащённости государств.

4. С появлением феномена глобализации наше пони­
мание политики и взаимодействия государств совершен­
но изменилось.

5. Глобализация способствует возникновению миро­
вых сообществ.

6. Глобализация характеризуется важными полити­
ко-идеологическими параметрами.

7. Возникновение глобальной взаимозависимости яви­
лось следствием разнообразных процессов и развития.

8. Распространение международной торговли и транс­
национальный характер современного бизнеса способство­
вали появлению мировой экономики.

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TEXT III

I. READ THE ARTICLE AND SAY WHY IT IS CALLED IN THIS WAY:

THE NEXT THREAT: WEAPONS

OF MASS DISTRUCTION

(by George F. Will)

Terrorist attacks have usually been against single tar­gets - individuals, crowds, buildings. But today's net-worked world of complexity and interconnectedness has vast new vulnerabilities with a radius larger than that of any imagi­nable bomb blast. Terrorists using computers might be able to disrupt information and communication systems and, by doing so, attack banking and financial systems, energy (elec­tricity, oil, gas) and the systems for the physical distribu­tion of economic output.

Hijacked aircraft and powered anthrax — such terro­rist tools are crude and scarce compared with compu­ters, which are everywhere and inexpensive. Wielded with sufficient cunning, they can spread the demoralizing help­lessness that is terrorism's most important intended by­product. Computers as weapons, even more than inter­continental ballistic missiles, render irrelevant physical geography — the two broad oceans and two peaceful neighbors — that once was the basis of America's sense of safety.

In a software-driven world, an enemy need not invade the territory, or the air over the territory, of a country in order to control or damage that country's resources.

The attack tools are on sale everywhere: computers, modems, software, telephones. The attacks can shut down services or deliver harmful instructions to systems. And a cyber-attack may not be promptly discovered. Computer intrusions do not announce their presence the way a bomb does.

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Already «subnational» groups - terrorists, organized crime - are taking advantage of legal and widely available strong software that makes their communications invul­nerable to surveillance. If all the personal computers in the world were put to work on a single message, it would still take an estimated 12 million times the age of the universe to break a single message.

Now suppose a state or group or state-supported group used similar cyber-marvels to attack, say, US banking and financial systems, or the production and distribution of electric power.

II. ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

1. What new sort of terrorism appeared in the world?

2. Is it too dangerous? ,

3. What are its grave consequences?

4. What are the attack tools for new terrorists?

5. Is it easy or difficult to discover a cyber-attack?

III. READ THE FOLLOWING ITEMS AND SAY WHAT
PROBLEMS ARISE AT THE BACKGROUND OF THE IN­
FORMATION PRESENTED IN THEM:

THE MICROSOFT MONOPOLY

Is Bill Gates's Windows the best thing that ever hap­pened to its millions of users? Without even knowing American antitrust laws, one can tell that 90 percent of all users make up Gates's captive customer base. It's the same, with Microsoft Office. All other US business giants - cars, telecommunications, banking, finance and mass media -have competition. Even the Mafia has to compete. Many giants go global in order to remain competitive. Microsoft alone has no competition - those who were likely to pop up got clobbered and buried. This is a monopoly in its most sinister form. While others fight the courts for survival, Gates fights to perpetuate this monopoly.

(from «NEWSWEEK» 2000}

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Political science

NOTES:

Clobber - атаковать

Sinister - зловещий

EUROPE'S POLS TAKE TO THE NET With British elections coming next week, Web surfers have plenty of opportunity to sample the spectacle. They can get hard news from www.voxpolitics.com, or stage Space Invaders-style battles between the forces of Labour's Tony Blair and Conservative candidate William Hague at www.friendly-giants.com. The parties are tripping over themselves to attract a Web audience: Labour recently mailed its Web-site address to first-time voters, and both parties have multiplatform news portals.

Internet-mania won't end when the British election is over. Many European governments are spending millions of euros to put all their transactions on the Web. The United Kingdom hired Microsoft to build a super-portal that will connect hundreds of government institutions, local and national, to one another by 2005. E-voting trials are under­way in Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. Italian and Dutch taxpayers already file online.

But the Euro governments may be overreaching. The complexity of forging seamless data links between myriad local and national departments is enormous - many of the world's top corporations haven't yet managed it. And there are antitrust issues. Right now, only a few thousand people file online via government sites, but what happens when that goes to millions?

Governments may end up farming out many Web ser­vices to third parties. The biggest rewards may come to governments that use the Web to increase internal effi­ciency.

IV. ANSWER: HOW DO GOVERNMENTS USE WEB SITES?

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Political science

Part II

TEXT IV

I. READ THE ARTICLE AND EXPLAIN WHY IT IS HEADLINED IN THIS WAY.

WASHINGTON DISCONNECTED (by Robert J. Samuelson)

By Washington, I do not mean the place. Most people here lead lives like most other Americans. They endure con­gestion, worry about schools and think only intermittently about politics and government.

What I mean by Washington is the political communi­ty. It consists of politicians, congressional staffers, White House aides, top bureaucrats, the press, lobbyists, think-tank experts and the staffs of interest and advocacy groups. These people subsist on politics, elections, legislation and public policy.

The widening gap between this Washington and the rest of the country is not altogether bad. America thrives in part because it's decentralized. Government power remains dispersed among the national, state and local levels. The economy permits companies to expand, compete, contract on their own. There is a plenty of volunteerism, charity and philanthropy.

Still, there is something intuitively disturbing about Washington's growing disconnect. In a representative de­mocracy, people shouldn't feel less and less represented.

It has always been widely believed that the government could solve most social problems. This faith — plus confi­dence that the economy could produce boundless new wealth — inspired immense governmental activism. Washington . connected with the rest of the country by showering new benefits on many constituencies. Although Democrats led this crusade, most Republicans joined. The elderly benefited from Medicare and higher Social Security; the poor received Medicaid and food stamps; schools and universities got more aid; Congress passed environmental and worker-safety laws.

We know now that this crusade foundered on its own heady assumptions. All social problems could not be solved; the economy couldn't produce boundless wealth; budget deficits emerged because politicians wouldn't choose between higher taxes and lower spending; regulations involved costs, as well as benefits. The political impact of this failure was profound. Lost was the old formula for connecting with the mass of moderate voters.

Ever since, both parties have struggled vainly to find a new one. The result is two parties that are not so much liberal and conservative as reactionary and radical. Demo­crats are reactionary because they seem to promise a return to the dreamy 1960s with expanding social programs and constituent benefits. Many Americans are suspicious. On the other hand, Republicans seem radical because they blame their governments. This frightens most Americans.

It is in this broader sense that Washington has become disconnected. The parties can't speak convincingly to the messy reality of large but inevitably limited government. Neither Democrats nor Republicans can create new programs or cut taxes. Politicians become more strident in their de­bates and more vicious in their personal attacks. They con­sort mostly with their own «core constituencies» and sym­pathetic ideologies.

This is a sad commentary on three decades of change.

(from «NEWSWEEK» 2002)

II. READ THE ARTICLE ONCE MORE AND SAY
WHY THE AUTHOR IS SO DISPLEASED WITH THE
SITUATION IN POLITICS.

III.TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING WORD-COMBINA­
TIONS INTO RUSSIAN:

To endure congestion; political appointees; think-tank experts; to subsist on; the widening gap; to thrive; to pro­duce boundless new wealth; to shower benefits on; moderate

_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________

voters; to blame for; in token ways; sympathetic ideologies; to be stunned by.

IV. TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING WORDS AND
THEIR DERIVATIVES:

Connect - disconnect - connection -connected - discon­nected

Policy - politics - political - politician Appoint - appointment - appointee - appointed Center - central - centralize - centralized - decentralized Compete - competing - competition - competitive -competitor

Volunteer - volunteerism - voluntary - voluntarily Philanthropy - philanthropic - philanthropist Represent - representative - representation

V. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. How does the author characterize the political com­
munity?

2. What are the advantages of the gap between Washing­
ton and the rest of the country?

3. But what is so disturbing in this disconnect?

4. What hopes have Americans always placed on the
government?

5. Were their hopes realized, at least in any way?

6. How does the author characterize the activities of
main American political parties?

7. Do their policies frighten Americans?

8. What is a result of all this political mess?

VI. MAKE UP DISJUNCTIVE QUESTIONS. ASK YOUR
FRIEND TO ANSWER THEM.

1. The US political community is a crowd of governing
class.

2. The members of this political community subsist on
politics, elections, legislation and public policy.

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Political science

3. America thrives because it is decentralized.

4. Government power remains dispersed among the na­
tional, state and local levels.

5. There is plenty of volunteerism, charity and philan­
thropy.

6. In a representative democracy people should not feel
less and less represented.

7. Government must try to solve all social problems.

8. Politicians become more strident in their debates.

9. They consort mostly with their own sympathetic ide­
ologies.

VII. ASK YOUR FRIEND:

—what he understands by political community;

— whether he thinks together with the author that Demo­
crats are reactionaries;

— if he considers Republicans to be radicals;

— why the gap between Washington and the rest of the
country is widening;

— what party is more inclined at social reforms;

— what he means by a sympathetic ideology;

— what is his personal opinion of the article «Washing­
ton Disconnected».

VIII. REVIEW THE ARTICLE

TEXT V

I. READ AND TRANSLATE THE ARTICLE: THE GRAND ILLUSION (by Robert J. Samuelson)

Americans are complacent, and their nation's power and reach seem unrivaled. But today's dominance won't last.

It has been the American century in more sense than one. At its start, the United States existed on the fringe of the global order. Americans probably enjoyed the world's highest living standard. But Europe regarded itself as the

_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________

world's commercial centre. However, incomes per person are 45 percent higher in America than in Europe, and 26 percent higher than in Japan.

It is hard to overstate US pre-eminence. Five of the 10 largest multinational corporations are American. Coca-Cola is the world's best-selling soft drink. Hollywood is the world's entertainment capital. The 20^th century has been a contest of ideas. At the outset, there was Empire: the no­tion that some peoples deserve to rule over others. Then there was fascism. Only the American ideal — with it em­phasis on human dignity, freedom and material progress — survived. Triumphant democracy and market economies would slowly erase major geopolitical conflicts.

But even the most powerful nation-state may not be able to tame menaces of the new millennium: nuclear pro­liferation, especially in volatile regions (the Indian subcon­tinent, the Middle East); terrorism, involving — perhaps — weapons of mass destruction; economic instability -wild swings in financial markets or trade flows, and technological breakdowns — whether by accident or sabotage — of vital computer or communication systems. And beyond these threats lie internal challenges to social cohesion and econo­mic well-being.

The most obvious of these is aging. By 2030, the ratio of America's working age population to the older popula­tion is expected to drop from today's 3-1 to 2-1. Govern­ment programs for the retired could raise spending to levels that create oppressive taxes or immense budget deficits.

But let's regard these problems. Let's also discount the possibility that, ambivalent about their nation's role in the world, Americans may tire of being a superpower. Let's focus instead on the narrower promise that the American Century can perpetuate itself through the expansion of de­mocracy and market-based economies. Either this expan­sion will occur or it won't. The trouble is that, whatever happens, American pre-eminence may suffer.

Political science

Suppose that democracy and market economics flourish. America's share of the world economy would decline. It is now about one fifth, but faster economic growth in China, India, Southeast Asia, Africa and South America — where three quarters of the world's 6 billion people live— would shrink that. As other countries grew wealthier and more confident, so would their power to challenge US interests and military technology.

For years Europe and Japan — with democracies, market economies and strong ties to the United States — have chafed an American leadership. Would Chinese, Indians, Brazilians — with weaker ties — quietly abide US leadership as their strength and status rose? Resentment of America is surely as wide-spread as admiration.

Now consider the alternate possibility: the advance of de­mocracy and markets isn't inevitable. For one reason or an­other, the global economy sputters. Trade protection rises as governments try to preserve jobs. Peoples everywhere empha­size their political, cultural, religious and ethnic differences. Nationalism increases, while popular support for interna­tional policies falls. Governments strain to reconcile economic interdependence and political hostility. In short, the Ameri­can model of economic and political pluralism founders.

As other countries advance, they may resist US views and interests in international organizations. Global compe­tition will intensify. And the overall geopolitical balance may shift. The USA has many problems now, but no obvi­ous crises, but this is half illusion, a deceptive one.

(from «NEWSWEEK» 2000)

II. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. What position does the USA occupy at the interna­
tional arena now?

2. It has some economic superiority, doesn't it?

3. What are the figures showing incomes per person in
America?

Part II

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4. What economic priorities does the US have in the

world?

5. What global problems are. still left unresolved?

6. Do they seem to be menaces of the new millennium?

7. What threatens US prosperity on the national level?

8. What is the situation like on the global level?

9. Are Americans' fears exaggerated or true to life?

10. Does the author finish his article with the pessimis-
ticror optimistic note?

III. TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING WORD-COMBINA­
TIONS:

Emphasis on human dignity; triumphant democracy; to erase major geopolitical conflicts; to tame menaces; nuclear proliferation; social cohesion; to reconcile economic inde­pendence; political hostility; to intensify global competi­tion.

IV. USE THE ABOVE WORD-COMBINATIONS IN
YOUR REVIEW OF THE ARTICLE.

V. READ THE ARTICLE AND RENDER ITS CONTENTS

IN RUSSIAN:

AN EMOTIONAL OVERREACTION (by Kenneth Auchincloss)

It is fanciful to think the terrorist attacks have changed Americans permanently.

Ever since September 11, it's been fashionable to say «This has changed everything.»

Some things have definitely changed. Thousands of lives have been lost, with devastating effects on the victims' friends and families. Major elements of the US government, notably the armed forces, are now directing their efforts towards the struggle against terrorism and the protection of citizens. Internationally, new alliances have been forged and old ones may be frayed.

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Political science

These are not minor consequences. But the Americans mean that the terrorist attacks will have long-range effects on the American psyche and on the behavior patterns of ordinary citizens. None of this is likely.

It's not easy to change the American psyche. When disaster strikes, we are hugely generous; when the urgency of events subsides, we revert to our individualism. That is the normal way - or, as we call it, human nature.

If our psyches haven't altered, what about our behavior patterns? Of course, there are changes, but it's likely they will all be temporary. We are taking airplanes less frequent­ly. There is a run on drugs to cope with anxiety. Unless more anthrax shows up in the mail, people will quickly resume opening envelopes with their usual abandon, and men in scary hazmat (hazardous materials) costumes will no longer show up in public places.

We Americans are notorious overreactors. It goes with our lust for novelty. We flock to the latest fashions, we swoon at the latest celebrity, we gasp at the latest headline - and then we quickly move on to the next. The same is true of our response to perceived threats. We may overre­act, but we are also quick to recover.

My point is that even a relatively small crisis can in­duce a large response in the American public. But we should be clear-eyed about what the current war on terror is likely to entail. There may be well more attacks on Americans, though probably nothing quite so devastating as that of September 11. Most likely, the struggle will evolve into a long, shadowy contest rather like the cold war. It will take place mostly outside America's borders, and its victories may be invisible - cloaked in secrecy or impossible to assess except with the passage of time.

VI. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 1, What accident gave rise to the phrase « This has changed everything»?

_____ Учебное пособие для философов и политологов_________

2. What has been changed in reality?

3. What did the terrorist attacks influence greatly?

4. Is it easy to change the American psyche?

5. What are the most evident traits of the Americans?

6. Have their benavior patterns changed?

7. Will it last long?

8. What will the war on terror entail?

VII. EXPLAIN THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS:

1. The terrorist attacks will have long-range effects on
the American psyche.

2. When disaster strikes the Americans are hugely gene­
rous.

3. There is a run on drugs to cope with anxiety.

4. The Americans are notorious overreactors.

5. A relatively small crisis can induce a large response
in the American public.

VIII. TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING WORD-COMBI­
NATIONS INTO RUSSIAN:

Devastating effects; to redirect one's efforts; long-range effects; behavior patterns; to cope with anxiety; notorious overreactors; lust for novelty; to induce a large response; to assess with the passage of time.

PARAPHRASE THESE WORD-COMBINATIONS BY USING FAMILIAR ONES.

IX. CHARACTERIZE, PLEASE: ,

1. Minor consequences of the terrorist attack on the
USA.

2. Major consequences of this attack.

X. REVIEW THE ARTICLE. USE THE WORD-COMBI­
NATIONS OF EXERCISE 6.

XL WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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Political science

1. Is it possible to solve the problem of terrorism on the
national level? On the global level?

2. What are the most optimal ways for preventing ter­
rorist attacks?

3. How did the USA try to settle the conflict in the
Middle East?

4. Were their attempts humane?

5. Should we eliminate the weapons of mass destruction
forever?

6. Are local wars inevitable?

TEXT V

I. READ THE ARTICLE AND ANSWER THE QUES­TIONS THAT FOLLOW:

MASS COMMUNICATION (by S. Lowery and M. De Fleur)

The American society is constantly changing. The mass media supported by society are also changing. In some part, the process is reciprocal. That is, the society influences its media, but the media, once in place, sometimes modify the society. These facts make the search for stable generaliza­tions about the personal, social, political, and cultural in­fluence of mass communication a difficult one.

Since the media first arrived, each succeeding decade has brought a different set of economic conditions, new technology, changing political demands, and a continuous­ly developing culture. In this dynamic milieu, the media continued to change their form, content, and distribution. This, in turn, modified the influence that they had on the people who attended to them. The process continues, and it will go on into the foreseeable future.

What this means for the student of mass communication is that the question of what influence mass communication has on people is an extraordinary complex one. There are few «eternal verities» that can adequately describe the effects of all mass media on all people during all historical periods. Even

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a conclusion about the influence of a particular medium that seems inescapably true for a specific category of people during a given period may prove to be invalid at a late time. This is not to say that no stable generalizations can be found through an examination of the major research studies of the past. We have learned a great deal about mass communication and how people are influenced by media in a given set of economic, political, and cultural conditions.

But if there are only a limited number of timeless truths to be obtained from an examination of the research mile­stones of the past, why should they be reviewed in detail? Actually, there are a number of reasons. For example, such a review provides an intellectual history of mass communi­cation as seen through the eyes of the research scientists. That is a very different history from one understood from any other perspective.

. It shows the development of theories about cause and effect in the analysis of media influences on society as well as the progressive adaptation of an increasingly sophisti­cated research methodology to the study of mass communi­cation. Such a review also reveals the evolution of a unique relationship between a community of communication scholars, a public interested in their findings, and a government increasingly willing to provide funds for research pro­viding answers to socially significant questions.