Angus Campbell

Political Party Identification and Attitudes Toward Foreign Policy

The influence of group membership on inwhich a mechanism of political party identidividual attitudes and group behavior is a fication operates to influence the opinions of matter of interest to students in many areas voters. of social science. Groups as intimate as the George Belknap is Study Director and family and as diffuse as the nation have been Angus Campbell is Director of the Survey studied. This study suggests the manner in Research Center at the University of Michigan.

The Passive Citizen

The widespread existence of political passivity and apathy among the citizens of the democratic nations is deeply disturbing to many people. The concept of an enlightened citizenry exercising its franchise in pursuit of its rights and interests is so basic to the theory of the democratic state that the flagrant failure of a sizeable portion of the electorate in Western societies even to take the trouble to vote appears to challenge the essential validity of the ideology of popular government.

Stability and Change in 1960: A Reinstating Election

John F. Kennedys narrow popular vote margin in 1960 has already insured this presidential election a classic position in the roll call of close American elections. Whatever more substantial judgments historical perspective may bring, we can be sure that the 1960 election will do heavy duty in demonstrations to a reluctant public that after all is said and done, every vote does count. And the margin translated into “votes per precinct” will become standard fare in exhortations to party workers that no stone be left unturned. The 1960 election is a classic as well in the license it allows for “explanations” of the final outcome. Any event or campaign strategem that might plausibly have changed the thinnest sprinkling of votes across the nation may, more persuasively than is usual, be called “critical.” Viewed in this manner, the 1960 presidential election hung on such a manifold of factors that reasonable men might despair of cataloguing them. Nevertheless, it is possible to put together an account of the election in terms of the broadest currents influencing the American electorate in 1960. We speak of the gross lines of motivation which gave the election its unique shape, motivations involving millions rather than thousands of votes. Analysis of these broad currents is not intended to explain the hairline differences in popular vote, state by state, which edged the balance in favor of Kennedy rather than Nixon. But it can indicate quite clearly the broad forces which reduced the popular vote to a virtual stalemate, rather than any of the other reasonable outcomes between a 60-40 or a 40–60 vote division.

Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis

A summary of the epidemiological facts known about multiple sclerosis is made. Attention is drawn to the odd geographical distributions in this disease, making allowance for the fact that in certain countries such as South America and China the true incidence has obviously not been assessed. The recent interest in the possibility of some animal disease such as scrapie in sheep being associated with multiple sclerosis is discussed, and further work in relation to an epidemiological study on more accurate lines is suggested. The less likely association with certain other diseases in human beings such as goitre and measles, and the possible implication of viruses in the aetiology of multiple sclerosis is discussed. Multiple sclerosis has various precipitant triggers such as trauma, infective illness and pregnancy and anaesthesia etc, which in any assessment of the aetiology is worth considering.

Political Theory: HERBERT H. HYMAN. Political Socializa tion : A Study in the Psychology of Po litical Behavior. (A Report of the Bu reau of Applied Social Research, Colum bia University.) Pp. 175. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1959.

HERBERT H. HYMAN. Political Socialization : A Study in the Psychology of Political Behavior. (A Report of the Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University.) Pp. 175. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1959.

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4.00. Fifty years ago Graham Wallas deplored the harmful separation of the study of politics from the study of psychology and hopefully observed &dquo;that there are already signs that it is coming to an end.&dquo; One would have to conclude from an appraisal of what has happened in the intervening years that Professor Wallas’ prediction was rather slow in materializing but that it has

Introducing the Committee on Scientific and Professional Responsibility.

A special American Psychological Association (APA) committee is frequently the way American psychologists wonder out loud about some new problem and what we can do about it. The present committee has been talking and probing around for more than two years, and we now want the larger APA audience to know what we are doing. This report discusses the establishment of the Committee on Scientific and Professional Responsibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY HARRIS, LOUIS. Is There a Republican Majority? Pp. xvii, 231. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1954.

After stating that &dquo;success requires a far greater tactical flexibility then the bulk of the federalist movement has yet shown&dquo; (p. 71), the author proposes that the world constitutional convention provides the tactical flexibility in the struggle for world government. It is therefore no surprise that she states, &dquo;currently there is a dangerous tendency to put all the world government eggs into the basket of United Nations revisions, a tactic providing little in the way of public education on world government.&dquo;