Social Structure and Political Competition: The Italian Case
With the end of the Fourth French Republic and the apparently effective performance of the Fifth Republic, France no longer provides an obvious touchstone for studies of “unstable” democracies. Perhaps as a result of the search for another such example, there has been an increase in American scholarly interest in Italy. Recent research—when combined with the studies of LaPalombara, Barnes, and Zariski, and with the studies conducted by Italian political scientists—provides a fund of organized and readily available information which may be used to test both general hypotheses and specific ones about Italian politics.
Economic Development and the Transformation of the Italian Party System
"That socialism is a necessity has never struck the masses with the compelling force of a flash of lightning.... As long as misery, the lack of basic necessities, was the condition of the majority, the need for a revolution could be regarded as obvious. . . . Nowadays, in the richer societies, it is not so clear that the status quo represents the greatest possible evil."'1 How European politics have changed since the class-bound polemics of a generation ago! The statement above was written not by a staid social scientist but by an advocate of the radical European Left. It is well known that an economic miracle has transformed Europe sociologically since the war. But has it also had the political result of stilling the radicals on both fronts and transforming their political parties into identical marketing organizations? Such a proposition, self-evident to some, has seldom been treated as an empirical question. Particularly in the light of recent events in Europe, the time is ripe for more careful inquiry into the actual linkage between social and economic change on the one hand and changes in the party system on the other. Students of Western European politics have identified three general areas of change in the party system which are said to be related to the economic miracle of the postwar period. First, economic change is said to have contributed directly to a slackening of social conflict, and thence to a depolarization of the political struggle. The argument runs roughly as follows: "As the wealth of a nation increases, the status gap inherent in poor countries, where the rich perceive the poor as vulgar outcasts, is reduced. As differences in style of life are reduced, so are the tensions of stratification. And increased education enhances the propensity of different groups to tolerate each other, to accept the complex idea that truth and error are not necessarily on one side."2 Second, the old mass-party structure-based upon a high ratio of members to voters and a dense network of sections-is changing to a looser aggregation, particularly under the electoral impact of the mass media
Improvement of scopolamine-induced memory impairment by Z-ajoene in the water maze in mice
Z-ajoene, a major compound containing sulfur in oil-macerated garlic products, exhibited inhibitory effects against scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice using the Morris water maze test. The effects of Z-ajoene were observed dose-dependently (0.25-25 mg/kg). At the highest dosage, the memory performance of mice was improved compared to normal mice. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the brain was reduced by administration of Z-ajoene dose-dependently. However, alliin and diallyl disulfide, organosulfur compounds from garlic, did not improve memory performance nor AChE inhibitory effect. These results suggest that Z-ajoene may act on the cholinergic system and on memory impairment caused by excess activity of AChE.