Eastern Europe and ‘legitimacy crisis’

An unexpectedly swift collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe amidst flares of mass dissent raises doubts about the accuracy of explanations of the persistence of these regimes in terms of ‘legitimacy’ and their fall in terms of ‘legitimacy crisis’. Such explanations are criticised and rejected as theoretically inadequate and lacking empirical support. It is argued that East European regimes had never developed mass legitimacy, and that even before the current upheavals they showed clear symptoms of non‐legitimate domination. In order to suggest an alternative interpretation of their persistence and fall, the paper clarifies the meaning of the term ‘legitimacy’, suggests reasons for the popularity of ‘legitimacy interpretations’, and critically assesses the empirical evidence for the alleged legitimacy and ‘legitimacy crises’. The concluding section outlines the bases of (non‐legitimate) communist domination and looks at the problems of (re‐establishing legitimate authority by the post‐communist East European regimes.     

Book review

Peter Bellwood. Prehistory of the Indo‐malaysian archipelago, xii, 370 pp. north ryde, nsw: academic press, 1985. £50.50 (paperback £30.50).     

Reviews

THE MODERN WORLD: A HISTORY OF OUR TIME. Vol. I. Gordon Greenwood. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1963. 791 pp. 63s.

THE COMMONWEALTH AND SUEZ. A DOCUMENTARY SURVEY. Selected, edited and with commentaries by James Eayrs. London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. xxiv + 483. Australian price 95/‐.

THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY. A VOLUME OF READINGS. H. W. Arndt and W. M. Corden (eds.). Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire, 1963. Australian price 30/‐.

POLAND, BRIDGE FOR THE ABYSS? AN INTERPRETATION OF DEVELOPMENTS IN POST‐WAR POLAND. Richard Hiscocks. London, Oxford University Press, 1963. viii, 359 pp. Map. Australian price 65/‐.

NEW NATIONS IN A DIVIDED WORLD. THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF AFRO‐ASIAN STATES. Kurt London (ed.). London, Praeger, 1963. Pp. 350. Sterling 45/‐ (cloth), 16/‐ (paper).

NEW GUINEA'S FIRST NATIONAL ELECTION. Edited by Murray C. Groves. A Symposium reprinted from the Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 73, No. 2, June 1964. Price 5/‐ (N.Z.).

RELIGION AND POLITICS IN RURAL CENTRAL JAVA. Robert R. Jay. Cultural Report Series No. 12, Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University. 1963.

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN LAOS. A STUDY OF TRADITION AND INNOVATION. Joel M. Halpern. Monograph Series No. 4. Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University. 1964. Pp. ix + 199, map, 15 tables.

HRAF handbook on Laos (Laos: its people, its society, its culture ed. F. M. LeBar and A. Suddard. HRAF Press, New Haven, 1960) to which Dr Halpern was a contributor.     

Partitioning chi-square for the analysis of frequency table data: an archaeological application

Archaeologists often wish to compare observed frequency distributions with expectations generated by a model. We describe a technique of partitioning chisquare which yields information about goodness of fit to a model and about homogeneity among populations simultaneously, and which is often superior to other commonly used methods of evaluating frequency data. The technique is demonstrated with data from the Upper Paleolithic rockshelter Le Flageolet I. The results suggest selective raw material use by the Aurignacian occupants.     

An Empirically Based Implementation and Evaluation of a Hierarchical Model for Commuting Flows. 一种基于经验的层状通勤流模型实现与评估

This article provides an empirical evaluation of a hierarchical approach to modeling commuting flows. As the gravity family of spatial interaction models represents a benchmark for empirical evaluation, we begin by reviewing basic aspects of these models. The hierarchical modeling framework is the same that Thorsen, Ubøe, and Nævdal (1999) used. However, because some modifications are required to construct a more workable model, we undertake a relatively detailed presentation of the model, rather than merely referring to the presentation in Thorsen, Ubøe, and Nævdal (1999) . The model uses a hierarchical specification of a transportation network and the individual search procedure. Journeys to work are determined by the effects of distance deterrence and of intervening opportunities, and by the location of potential destinations relative to alternatives at subsequent levels in a transportation network. The model calibration uses commuting data from a region in western Norway. The estimated parameter values are reasonable, and the explanatory power is very satisfactory when compared with the results of a competing destinations approach.