League of Nations

In their general assessment of the League of Nations, the authors, LeRoy Bennet and James Oliver, argue that: “If the League of Nations is measured against a yardstick of hopes and possibilities for achieving world peace and cooperation, it fell short of its goal. If, on the other hand, it is measured by the standard of previous advances toward world order, it represented a breakthrough in the development of international organization. If the process of development does not reverse itself, the League will continue to stand as a landmark in the evolutionary process of achieving a more orderly world.” Please explain and discuss the above statement.

Introduction
In the antecedent statement of the authors, they scrutinize the League of Nations in two different perspectives. On the one hand, concerning the inefficiency of the League in maintaining peace and promoting international cooperation, the authors regard the League of Nations as a failure. On the other hand, regarding the constructive invention of the League of Nations as an international organization, and its contribution to the revolutionary impact on the history of international relations, it should be considered as a success. In general, the authors believe that, despite its inefficiency and lack of coercive power, the League serves an influential and constructional function in the route of achieving a more peaceful and arranged world.
In my paper, I will firstly examine the main reasons and cases of the League of Nations’ incompetence and provide a proof of its failure. In this section, the analysis of (1) League’s structural defects, (2) its unanimous voting procedure, and (3) its lack of compulsive sanctions will be provided. These features, in the authors’ point of view, result in the failure of the League. Subsequently, I will discuss the innovative attributes of the League of Nations in terms of (1) its pioneering role as the first multipurpose IGO, (2) the universal membership, and (3) the three unprecedented peace-keeping orientated principles. These features, according to the authors, can be treated as the bases of their treatment of the League as a success. Finally, a conclusion will be made on the overall evaluation of the League of Nations.


The League’s Incompetence and Failure
The League’s incompetence that leads to its failure to provide a more peaceful world order can be analyzed by the following features:
1. Structure Defects: The United States’ Exclusion
The League of Nations’ structure defects consist in, by and large, the United State’s nonparticipation in the League. Sarcastically, despite the fact that it was the President Woodrow Wilson’s advocacy that led to the creation of the League of Nations, the United States never joined the League. In fact, the United States is also the only major power during the Interwar Period which never joined the League. Without the Leadership of the greatest power at that time, the League lacked a concerted action agreed by the major powers, not to mention the possibility of maintenance of world peace. Taking the Manchuria Case for example, the ineffectiveness of the peaceful intervention can be blamed for the United States’ “aloofness” in the league[1]. The absence of the United States in the League of Nations therefore is the first reason that leads to the League’s failure.
2. Unanimous Voting Procedure
The Committee decisions could be taken by majority vote, but final approval on most issues had to face the requirement of unanimity in a plenary session of the Assembly.[2] As we could imagine, whenever there was a dispute among the nations, a unanimous agreement must be made. In this type of voting procedure, every single nation has the veto power. In order to pass a consensus resolution, the time consumed or the negotiation efforts made are costly in general. This feature thus generates one of the critical defects of the League of Nations system. Although the convention of unanimous vote was sometimes bypassed by a number of special provisions, practices, and devices, this voting procedure indeed constitutes a factor for the League’s ineffectiveness and ultimate failure.

3. Lack of Compulsive Sanctions
The League of Nations did not provide significant means of sanction against those who did not abide by the international order at that time. For instance, albeit the League Court is empowered to determine whether or not any member has fulfilled its obligations to another member, it is also true that the court does not have compulsory jurisdiction over all the members of the League[3]. On top of that, the ineffectiveness of the League in the face of aggression by a major power was a blow to the prestige of the organization and served as an indication to other states bent on conquest that the will to apply sanctions was lacking on the part of the most powerful League members[4].

The League’s Contribution and Success
In spite of the League of Nations’ failure of providing an effective regime for peace maintenance, it undoubtedly serves as an evolutionary experiment on the new international power arrangement. I will inspect its contribution and innovative ideas in this section.
1. Pioneering Role as the First Multipurpose IGO
Before the invention of League of Nations, in terms of the issue areas dealt with, there was not any single intergovernmental organization that was as comprehensive as the League was. Apart from the major task of promoting peace and preventing war, international economic and social cooperation was also included in the institution. Furthermore, the objectives of abolition of secret treaties, the management of the mandate system, as well as the discussion on humanitarian issues, are unprecedentedly comprised in the League of Nations. Consequently, as the first multipurpose intergovernmental organization in the history, the League’s contribution to the development of new international order is formidable.


2. The Universal Membership
The membership of the League of Nations is notable for its inclusion of all the major nations (excluding the United Sates.) This universal membership provides a basis for a worldwide cooperation, instead of a single regional arrangement which had been customary in Europe. Despite the fact that the League of Nations does not serve as a world government, its pioneering role of providing an international forum for all countries to participate in and discuss the potential political, economic, or social cooperation, surely can be regarded as a contribution to the development of international organization as well as the process of achieving a more orderly world.
3. Three Peace-Keeping Orientated Principles
The peace-keeping orientated principles of the League of Nations, i.e. collective security, peaceful settlement of disputes, and fostering international cooperation, play vital roles and represent a break through in the evolutionary process of international organization.
As regard to the collective security, ten of the twenty-six articles of the Covenant dealt with the means for achieving this goal. Although war was not totally outlawed by the Covenant, the intention was clear that through peaceful settlement of disputes wars should be prevented and that any aggressor who resorted to war in violation of the Covenant should be dealt with promptly and effectively by the collective action of all other members[5]. Under the system of collective security, members agreed to respect and preserve the territorial integrity and political independence of other states, and any war or threat of war was a matter of concern to the whole League. As a result, despite not fully implemented by the countries at that time, not even under the UN system, the principle of collective security at least becomes a notion that lead us to a more orderly international system.
The Permanent Court of International Justice serves as the major organ in the League of Nation that provides the peaceful settlement of disputes. For the first time in the history the dispute among nations could be arbitrated by an international court rather than by the violent means, such as the military actions. Thus, the moral aspect of the international relations was advanced by the invention of Permanent court of International Justice, as well as the League of Nations itself, which exemplifies one of the successful experiments by the League.
Finally, with respect to fostering international economic and social cooperation, issues such as (1) just treatment of non-self-governing peoples, (2) supervision of traffic in women and children, (3) supervision of traffic in dangerous drugs, (4) supervision of the arms trade, (5) freedom of communications and transit, (6) equitable treatment of international trade for all states, and (6) the prevention and control of disease, are covered in the League of Nations’ Covenant[6]. These comprehensive issues were never dealt by such an international-based cooperation, and thus contribute to the constructive goal of the League of Nations in its process of achieving more orderly world.

Conclusion
As evaluating whether modern international organizations, such as the League of Nations and the United Nations, are successful or not, we judge on the basis of their handling of disputes and their utility in avoiding war. In other words, the organization’s success or failure is ultimately assessed primarily in terms of its utility in the control of political and military conflict[7]. The authors in their statement agree with this point, in terms of the League’s structure defects, the inefficient unanimous voting procedure, as well as the lack of compulsive sanctions. However, when we scrutinize the League of Nation’s innovative attributes, for instance, its pioneering role as the first multipurpose intergovernmental organization, the universal membership in the League, as well as the realization of the idea of collective security, peaceful settlement of conflicts, and international cooperation, we cannot deny its contribution to the development of modern international relations. In conclusion, the authors notice that, despite a number of defects and inefficiency in the League of Nations, we should not overlook the significant influence of the League of Nations, for its remarkable contribution to the process of making a more just world come true.
Reference
C.G Fenwick. “The ‘Failure’ of the League of Nations,” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Jul., 1936), 506-509.
Edward A. Harriman. “The League of Nations a Rudimentary Superstate,” The American Political Science Review, Vol. 21, No.1 (Feb., 1927), 137-140
Gerhart Niemeyer. “The Balance-Sheet of the League Experiment,” International Organization, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Nov., 1952), 537-558
LeRoy Bennett, James K. Oliver. International Organizations: Principles and Issues. 7th ed, Pearson Education, Inc., 2002
[1] Gerhart Niemeyer. “The Balance-Sheet of the League Experiment,” International Organization, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Nov., 1952), pg. 557
[2] LeRoy Bennett, James K. Oliver. International Organizations: Principles and Issues. 7th ed, Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. pg. 34
[3] Edward A. Harriman. “The League of Nations a Rudimentary Superstate,” The American Political Science Review, Vol. 21, No.1 (Feb., 1927), pg. 138
[4] LeRoy Bennett, James K. Oliver. International Organizations: Principles and Issues. 7th ed, Pearson Education, Inc., 2002, pg. 39
[5] LeRoy Bennett, James K. Oliver. International Organizations: Principles and Issues. 7th ed, Pearson Education, Inc., 2002, pg. 31
[6] LeRoy Bennett, James K. Oliver. International Organizations: Principles and Issues. 7th ed, Pearson Education, Inc., 2002, pg. 32-33
[7] LeRoy Bennett, James K. Oliver. International Organizations: Principles and Issues. 7th ed, Pearson Education, Inc., 2002, pg. 38

家聚照片照片

有史以來最好玩的家聚!!
雖然吃的義大利麵有點遜
可是
笑的好痛
飆車女打仔學妹
壯漢張弘韻
巫婆鞋人
我...
和樂的一家真好玩!
下次出去出遊優!

全家福

飆車女打仔學妹與我

我跟巫婆鞋人

這是拍畢業照空檔的美女圖~我超愛的野

江佩寰 我 惠惠 姿ㄧ

(齊人之福...感覺我像是色胚也....)

多倫多大學交換學生心得

雪
台大政治系國關組四年級賴文涵
序
在台灣長大的孩子，總是對雪，這陌生的六角形結晶體，有著無限的憧憬與嚮往，我當然也不例外。也因為對雪的好奇，在通過台大交換學生甄選，選擇交換學校志願序時，我毫不猶豫地，選擇了這個座落在地球儀上相反的另一端，且一年中將近有六個月的時間覆蓋在冰雪之下的城市──加拿大多倫多。當時的我，想到能夠在童話般的北國城市生活，並實現從小以來出國留學的夢想，雖說是充滿著歡欣鼓舞的喜悅，卻又夾雜著許多的忐忑不安，心理不斷地想著，未來一年的生活，到底會是如何？這一年夢想的生活，是否是能如雪般潔淨無瑕？
校園巡禮
九月初，剛從夏季末但天氣仍稍炎熱的台灣，輾轉來到了加拿大，映入眼簾的當然還不是皚皚的白雪，而是翠綠的大樹、草地上嬉戲的松鼠群、以及不時吹來的微風，剛從機場抵達宿舍的我，難掩心中的興奮之情，便迫不及待地丟下了行李，展開校園初次探險。心中新鮮、雀躍、與綠意盎然，是我當時唯一能體會到的感覺。
相信有讀過哈利波特的人，都知道霍格華茲學院是由葛萊芬多、史萊哲林等不同學院所構成的吧！而多倫多大學同樣地，承襲著英國的教育制度，是由好幾個獨立的學院所形成。決定新生入學的不是分類帽，而是由學校抽籤決定的。我被分配到的維多利亞學院Victoria College，坐落在學校的東北角，其背面是多倫多最有名的精品街Bloor Street East，側面則被綠意盎然的女皇公園Queen’s Park所圍繞，是校內眾所周知貴族學院。其他的學院各有各的特色：位於校園中央的University 擁有校內最古色古香的建築物，好萊塢常借用作為拍攝場景；位於最北側的Trinity College則以最團結的學生著名；校園西側的New College諷刺地有著學校最老舊的宿舍；東南側的Saint Michael College則以神學研究著名，常會看到修女、神父穿梭其中。
除了學校內具有不同風格的學院外，最引人注目的，就是矗立在校園的大動脈St. George Street上的十三層樓的圖書館Robarts Library，一進入圖書館便可以看到數百台的電腦，供學生資料查詢之用。而二樓到五樓則是閱讀教室，許多學生都在空堂的時間來此唸書。五樓以上則全部都是藏書的空間，也因此據說多倫多大學圖書館的藏書量是北美所有大學院校中前五名的。更值得一提的是，除了這棟總圖書館外，校園內的各科系、各個學院，都擁有自己的圖書館，總共算一算，整個校園內至少有十五座的圖書館，台大在圖書資源上與其相比，實在是小巫見大巫。剛來到多倫多大學，便深深地讚嘆其對於圖書資源之重視，果然不虧為世界上一流大學之一。尤其在考試之前，更可以完全體會到圖書館資源多的好處：在台大是學生要排隊搶位置唸書，在多倫多大學則完全相反，學生還可以依照今天心情選擇適合的圖書館來唸書呢！
住宿方面，我住的地方是男女混居co-ed的宿舍，（在加拿大大部分的宿舍亦是如此），剛來到宿舍的第二天，便是宿舍的新生訓練。宿舍的每層樓都會有一個Don，負責管理這層樓的學生安全與秩序。我住的宿舍配置很像高級版的國青二樓，有分單人房與雙人房，浴室與廁所都是整層樓的人共用，因此剛到這兒的時候，有點不太適應，因為當你上廁所、刷牙洗臉的時候，旁邊都會有不同的人（而且是女生！）走來走去，可見外國人對於男女共同居住在一個屋簷下這件事情，是抱持著非常開放的態度。此外，每層樓都必備有一個客廳跟一個廚房，而客廳可說是整層樓的核心要地，亦即樓友間最常聚集八卦、談天、看電視影集、甚至喝酒開party的地方。
食物方面，我所住的宿舍是採取Meal Plan制度，也就是說，學校規定一個學年必須要在餐廳買至少300份餐券（平均大約一天吃一到兩餐）。這項制度可說是好壞?半，怎麼說呢？好處在於通常同學們都可以在有考試或是作業的時候，到餐廳直接用餐，免去許多自行烹煮的時間，而且通常吃飯時間也是同學間最常交流、聊天的機會。然而，雖然說每餐都是All you can eat，平均一餐通常要花掉８塊加幣（折合台幣大約快兩百塊）、而且菜色大約兩週會重複一遍（可以想像不外乎就是漢堡、義大利麵、薯條、披薩、還有偶一為之的?美式?燴飯），吃到後來幾乎每個人都非常厭倦了，學期末能夠用完一學期的餐券的人，寥寥可數。
學校課程
人總是可以很快地適應環境的，這點在我的加拿大生活中，我特別可以體驗。在食物、宿舍、校園環境上，不花超過一個月，已經大約把自己的生活圈都摸熟了。在楓葉轉紅之際，每當趕課時走過宿舍前的公園，仰望，天空都像是被火紅的楓葉染紅似的，總是能讓我不捨得地逗留一番，欣賞這難得的秋景。然而，在欣賞美景後，仍然要面對的，便是學校的緊湊課程。
人們總是跟你說，你的英文好，到英語系國家上課，八成沒有問題。諷刺的是，沒錯，你大概聽得懂八成，但剩下的兩成，便是能否進入狀況的關鍵。我在選課的時候，好死不死的選了一門大四的政治系必修課，課堂進行的方式，便是教授每週指定進度，而每次上課便是讓同學討論，並發表心得。在台灣，這樣的課程不多見，也讓我十分雀躍地期待這堂課。然而，在第一次上課之後，心便涼了一半。
每次上課指定的閱讀進度，通常都是一百到一百五十頁，這對身為外國人的我，真的是不可能的任務，就連本國人也常在抱怨，那麼多的進度，怎麼可能在一周內看完。除了閱讀進度外，在課堂上要如何「突破重圍」，亦即，怎麼在外國同學的瘋狂搶答中，取得短暫的發言權。常常鼓起勇氣的舉手發表感想時，發現與外國同學的發言對照，好像自己講的都是沒有營養的內容，而且，班上只有15位同學，老師有時候還會直接點人問同學的想法，超級刺激！事實上，一直到了學期快接近尾聲，才真正地除了聽得懂教授、同學的發言外，參與到核心討論。這堂課我最印象深刻的，應該是學期中舉辦的「關稅談判演練」。這個關稅談判演練是讓同學分成四組，分別代表發展中國家、已開發國家、以及發展狀況介於兩者的國家。第一次參加這種演練，深深的感受到，外國學生的雄辯與侵略性，談判的結果，加拿大學生所代表的未開發國家，諷刺地讓我所代表的已開發國家，減讓百分之十五的關稅，而他們只接受了減讓百分之五的要求，使我們這組代表的國家幾乎是血本無歸。這場演練讓我的體認便是，如果要在國際上生存（不管是國家或是個人），無法用英文精確的辯論，要增進自身利益，幾乎是不可能的事情。
在加拿大，通常一學期同學們會修四到五門課，六門便算是超修了，這點跟台灣一學期動輒八九門課，有著天壤之別。當然，天下沒有白吃的午餐，別以為一學期上四、五門課是多麼輕鬆的事情。通常每一科每週都有至少五十頁以上的閱讀進度，而且每個禮拜都有小考或是作業，學校的圖書館也因此通常不論是否是期考週前，總是高朋滿座。除此之外，也由於上課時數沒有像台灣那麼多，通常個人可以支配的休閒時間也相對增加，一天的課頂多只有四堂，剩餘的時間，大概大部分的人都會跑到圖書館去，準備隔天上課厚厚的閱讀，如此相對台灣來說，較主動的學習方式，也是我覺得之所以加拿大的教育制度較可取的地方。
除了上述提到的15人小班課程，我也有機會上到上百人的課程。我修的這堂政治哲學課，一班有大約兩百位同學，上課的地點是在類似共同101那種階梯大教室。一般而言，這麼多人在一班上課，學習效果應該頗差吧。完全不會！在教授的講課中，總是會安排四到五次的問答時間，在講授一個段落之後，便開放學生問答。好萊塢電影不是騙人的！你會發現，你身處在的兩百人教室，每當問答時間,總是會有十個人左右搶著舉手問答，教授與學生間互動關係之頻繁，應該是台大的學生所不能想像的。除此之外，在加拿大即使是像如此大班的課程，學習效率並不會相較低落的原因在於，在正課外會有分組實習討論課的時間。舉這堂政治哲學為例，課堂的人依照姓名字首被分為三組A-H, I-S,T-Z，而這三組分別又有三個不同的時間可以讓學生挑選參加實習討論，在課堂上聽不懂的問題，都會由助教一一的回答，並且提出重要的問題，讓同學思考。我覺得我在這堂課的收穫，其實遠大過於僅僅上課被動地聽講，當然，更遠遠超過於在台大常見的教授獨白，所帶來的學習效果。

人際互動
十月底，開始下雪了。每當望著窗外美麗的雪景，總是感嘆為何此景可以如此地美不勝收。雪，從遠處望去，覆蓋了多倫多市，我們因此看不見原本裸露的建築物，看不見草地上奔跑的松鼠，也看不見路人大衣、圍巾下的真面目。加拿大人，除了有著厚重的外衣包裹外，似乎內心更是被那層厚厚的雪，牢牢地覆蓋著。除此之外，近距離地接觸雪，你終究會詫異地發現，它與你眺望時，或是想像中的形象，有所不同。
在加拿大生活了兩個月許久，從學校環境、食宿的適應，到學習環境的調適，對我來說其實都不算是太大的問題。然而，在與加拿大本地學生的人際互動上，卻時常覺得力不從心。回想起當初交換學生考試時，所寫的題目：「我如何面對困難」，終於體會到了交換學生中心出此題目的立意。在異地求學，除了面對課業壓力、適應環境外，最辛苦的就是面對孤獨與人際關係的考驗。所謂Easier said than done，交換考生考試中洋洋灑灑寫的諸如致力宣揚台灣文化、促進文化交流等等，都在外國人的眼神與回應態度中，煙消雲散。實際地來說好了，當中秋節來到時，你好心的請他們吃月餅，並且介紹中國中秋節的由來等等，他們會給你　“ Is that my business?”　的神情，並禮貌地拒絕你所給的點心；當有幾位政治系的同學請問你台海兩岸關係的時候，你會發現他們並不是真的想要了解實際的狀況，反而只是找尋跟你客套的話題（因為他們找不到別的話題跟你聊，而且當你解釋三分鐘後他們就開始恍神了…..好玩的是還有同一個人問過我三遍同樣的話題！！）；當你在廚房炒台灣菜時，他們會跟DON　(註：每層樓都有一個學長，管理住宿秩序，有點像宿監)　抱怨，請你不要煮太重的「異國風味」，以免讓同宿的人難受。身為一個台灣人，你會覺得，你所擁有的文化資產，尤其是當你試圖與加拿大人分享時，似乎他們完全並不感興趣。曾有位同學跟我說，他要選擇歷史區域研究做為輔系，而我問他想研究哪一區域，他說：歐洲歷史。我接著問他，你怎麼看待亞洲歷史研究呢？他說，他並不覺得亞洲歷史有趣，而且從高中歷史課本看到的亞洲歷史，只是充斥著一堆奇怪的人名而已。從我同學的觀點來看，我便覺得，其實美國人與加拿大人共通之處，似乎都在於其濃厚的西方文化本位概念。諷刺的是，似乎加拿大人所常常嘲笑的大美國文化沙文主義，在他們自己身上，卻常常是顯而易見的。
不可否認地，在日常生活與加拿大人的互動中，其實可以體會到的是，東西方的文化確實有極大的不同。舉例來說，加拿大人開的玩笑，幾乎都在取笑朋友上打轉，並且引以為樂，常常可以看到，大家在客廳聊天的時候，其實都是在互虧對方。其實這點也可以從電視文化上顯示出來，在加拿大的時候大家最喜歡看的節目應該是America’s Next Top Model。節目中常出現的惡毒評論，除了在朋友們邊看電視邊批評的過程中出現外，每天在真實生活上演的頻率，絕對超過每星期的播放次數，也因此，稱此節目為 ”Reality” Show，實不為過。除此之外，對性的開放程度，更是讓我嘖嘖稱奇，朋友間常常互相分享昨夜與男女朋友的「互動過程」，每次我聽到類似的討論話題都覺得面紅耳赤，好不害羞。我想這些文化衝擊，若是沒有這次交換學生的體驗，一輩子都無法體驗到的吧！
從人際關係的校園體驗，擴大到多倫多市，甚至整個加拿大來看，最值得思考的，便是多元文化相處模式的探討。正巧在下學期我選修了一門都市計劃的課程，其中有一項題材便在探討都市中的多元文化共處，在一份有關Urban Consciousness的報告中，我也藉由我本身在校園內及多倫多的觀察與體驗，以及都市計劃上對此一領域的研究，做了一份有趣的報告。內容如下：



Multiculturalism
Curious about what multiculturalism is in Canada, I decided to look up the definition of multiculturalism on the website of the Department of Canadian Heritage, as the first step of my research. Unsurprisingly, there is a rather long and prospective definition:
Canadian multiculturalism is fundamental to our belief that all citizens are equal. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of belonging. Acceptance gives Canadians a feeling of security and self-confidence, making them more open to, and accepting of, diverse cultures. The Canadian experience has shown that multiculturalism encourages racial and ethnic harmony and cross-cultural understanding, and discourages ghettoization, hatred, discrimination and violence.
Through multiculturalism, Canada recognizes the potential of all Canadians, encouraging them to integrate into their society and take an active part in its social, cultural, economic and political affairs.

There are two major parts of the definition. The first part mainly expresses that people from different culture should preserve their own cultural identity while still having a sense of belonging to the Canadian society. On the other hand, the second part further emphasizes the integration of the immigrants into the Canadian society. However, does this multiculturalism “actually” work well in the context of the city of Toronto without any dialectic or conflict? I found it interesting to observe how this multiculturalism works in my college and to examine if the definition above is empirical in my own experience.
I belong to Victoria College in University of Toronto, and live in the Margaret Addison Hall residence affiliated to the college. There are approximately 35 students living on the 5th floor, with about 20 Canadian students and 15 international students. The group of international students consists of a variety of nationalities, including the United States, England, France, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, China, Korea, and Taiwan. There are single rooms and double rooms in the residence, but intriguingly, there is not one double room that has the mixture of international and Canadian students. Some may defend this kind of arrangement with the argument that different students from different countries and cultures are likely to have different habits and life styles, so if we assign these international students with Canadian students chances are that there might be more conflicts between them while they live under the same roof . Why not put Canadian students together in the same double room and international students in another, for avoidance of cultural conflicts?
Referring back to the definition of multiculturalism, Canada has been devoting very much not only to the preservation of different cultures but also to the integration of a variety of immigrant cultures into Canadian society. In Toronto, a city always proud of its own cultural diversity, we do see immigrants from all over the world living peacefully in its neighbourhoods. In the residence of University of Toronto, we also observe a great number of students from different countries, hoping to learn not only the knowledge from university but also the different culture of Canada. Surprisingly, in this relatively small society of university, also a miniature society in the city of Toronto, international students are sorted into the same double room, while Canadian students are sorted into another. Despite the fact that international and Canadian students seem to live together more peacefully on the same floor in this way, as immigrants and Canadians live serenely in the vertical city of Toronto under the Cultural Mosaic policy of the Canadian government, we have to admit that the second part of the definition is not reflective of my actual experience. The integration of cultural groups, both in the university level and in Toronto, has not been working thoroughly and literally need to be strengthened and emphasized.
After all, if we can make this multiculturalism work in a small society in the university by avoiding the necessary cultural confrontations while the integration of different culture is taking effect, can we expect different cultural groups to walk out of their own communities and start to integrate into the Canadian society? Taking my Turkish roommate and myself as an example, after living together for 8 months, despite some conflicts for sure, we both learned a lot about each other’s culture and realized that we used to be so ignorant of each other’s culture. Conversely, we see most of the Canadian students live together without a closer and deeper understanding of different cultures. As a result, from my own experience and observation from the university, I draw the conclusion that the most difficult task we need to deal with in Toronto or Canada in the context of multiculturalism is how to give different cultural groups more opportunities to interact with each other, in order to facilitate their integration into the Canadian society, instead of making efforts on how to prevent the cultural confrontation and maintaining the surface appearance of cultural serenity in Canadian society.

事實上，來自不同文化背景的人們相處，必定會有所摩擦與誤解，然而，如何採取正確的態度來面對這些摩擦與誤會，是加拿大，甚至世界各個國家的人都必須要面對的課題。在加拿大作為交換學生的我，由於有這樣的體認，進而反思在台大校園是否也有類似的文化差異性的存在，直接聯想到的，就是台灣學生對於港澳、東南亞來的僑生，其實本質上的態度，不就如同美國、加拿大的同學對於我們這些外國學生的態度一般，有著相似之處？交換學生計畫，除了能夠讓台灣的同學實現自己出國留學的夢想外，更重要的，不就是體驗其他國家與台灣的差異，進而促進台灣文化與他國文化的交流？儘管每一屆交換生能做的有限、儘管交換國家的學生並不一定真的對你所賦予的使命，有多大的興趣、儘管一年的交換學生期間不算太長，我相信持續不斷的交換計畫，最後在不管在學術上，或是文化的交流上，長期下來畢竟能夠構成相當大的貢獻。
後記
從考上交換學生的那刻起，同學們便開始以羨慕的眼光投射到我的身上。「你到加拿大交換學生回來後，英文一定會進步超多的！」「好不好玩啊？當交換學生？」「加拿大一定常下雪，很漂亮吧！」雪，從遠處，看來的確是很美，同學們對交換學生欽羨的感覺，似乎也是由此角度出發.但是我相信，近距離看過融雪的人，肯定會對雪的憧憬，別有一番改觀。融雪本身不但不是想像中的晶瑩剔透，其過程更不是一蹴可幾的。通常從三月份開始，雪會先融一部份，等氣溫稍低後，又結成冰塊，不斷的循環交替此過程後，到了五月份，才終究完全融化。在這中間的過程中，同學們常常都會在滑溜溜的冰上跌倒，校園裡還會看到有不小心的同學，因此打上石膏呢。
我的交換學生生活，從一開始的期待與興奮，到中間的適應甚至痛苦，到最後終究適應了環境並且獲得成長的體驗，這過程猶如我看雪，從初次下雪的雀躍，到看見雪融化如此不堪的模樣，以至春天的來到，「不經一番寒徹骨，焉得梅花撲鼻香」之感，油然而生。在去到加拿大交換學生之前，對於交換學生的憧憬，在經過一年的實際體驗後，就像由宏觀下雪的美好，對比到微觀融雪時的樣貌般，產生了新的體悟。希望往後的交換學生，除了懷著雀躍的心情迎接交換計畫，更可以做好心理準備，迎接出國交換學生光環下所將面臨的挑戰。特別在此感謝國際學術交流中心提供我這次難得的交換學生經驗，並期望往後台大與其他世界一流名校的合作計畫，能夠更加頻繁，並提供更多學生珍貴的交流的機會。

Calculus of Consent Ch4

Chapter 4: Individual Rationality in Social Choice
政治系國關組四年級賴文涵
I. Summary
A. Individual and Collective Rationality
Prior to defining what “rationality” is, the author suggests that we shall specify the object, or “the decision-making unit”, at the first place.
The author supposes that problems arise when regarding the collectivity as “the decision making unit”. Therefore, he advises that we consider the individual participant in collective choice as the only real decision-maker, and discuss rational behavior only in terms of the individual’s own goal achievement. This section, thus, is fundamentally provided in comparison of the two approaches, “individual” and “collective” rationality.
In the model of collective rationality, there is the presumption that the goals of collective action are commonly shared, and significant individual and group differences are incorporated in it. By contrast, the book presupposes the “individual rationality” analytical model, in which rational behavior can only be discussed meaningfully in terms of individual action.

B. Individual Rationality in Market Choice
Subsequent to the illustration of distinction between individual and collective rationality in the first section, the author introduces the definition of rational individual behavior, according to the traditional economic theory.
In the traditional economic theory, the average individual is able to rank or to order all alternative combinations of goods and services that may be placed before him and that this ranking is transitive. Behavior of the individual is said to be “rational” when the individual chooses “more” than “less” and when he is consistent in his choices. In brief, the section generally gives a review on the individual rationality vis-?-vis the market choices.



C. Individual Rationality and Collective Choice
In fact, not until this section does the author initiate his interpretation of individual rationality towards political collective choice. The author begins to extend the economic conception of individual rationality to collective choices, which constitutes the main argument of this chapter.
To begin with, he suggests that the individual can choose from not only market goods but also public goods. Also, the individual is able to rank the various bundles of public or collective goods in the same way that he ranks private goods. Furthermore, there is a diminishing marginal rate of substitution between public and private goods, on the one hand, and among the separate public goods on the other. Theoretically, as the consumer’s rational behavioral pattern applied to the citizen’s collective-choice process, the individual follows the basic law of supply and demand. (eg. The individual chooses more public goods when the price of these is lowered.)
Nevertheless, the author admits that the generalization above reflects a critical conceptual leap in terms of the gap between individual and group choice. Consequently, at this stage of analysis, we cannot in fact achieve the same degree of support for behavioral assumptions about individual action in collective choice that the economist possesses. The more intact explanation, according to the author, will be left in the later parts of the book.

D. Limitations on Individual Rationality
In this part, the author explores the existent uncertainty in the political decision making process, in contrast to the assumptive perfect certainty in individual market choice.
On the one hand, the individual participant has no way of knowing the final outcome. This uncertainty in political choice seems to limit the original rational individual behavior to some significant extent. On the other hand, the individual loses the sense of decision-making responsibility that is inherent in private choice. In collective choice process there is no such thing as a precise relationship between individual action and result, in contrast with private choice process. Consequently, we should not expect models, based on the assumption of rational individual behavior, to be completely invariant as they are applied to the market or economic choices.
In response to these limitations on individual rationality, the author indicates that we can actually reduce them to some extent in the continuous process of collective choice. Each unique decision represents only one link in a long-time chain of social action. He also mentions, through some form of exchange or trade, the limitation of uncertainty can be neutralized. For instance, if the vote of the individual choice is recognized as being subject to exchange for the votes of other individuals in later choices, uncertainty is eliminated. As a result, despite some limitations of the model, we should yet stick to the individual rationality approach as our analytical tool.

E. Conclusion
In chapter four, the author firstly introduces the individual and collective rationality as two respective approaches, the former as a major thesis of the chapter as well as the book. Subsequently, he provides the reader with a brief brush-up of rational individual behavior in the economic theory, as a foundation of the later collective choice analysis. After the economical interpretation in the second section, he starts the political implication for the collective choice, i.e. the consumer’s individual choice pattern is similar to the citizen’s collective-choice process. Lastly, although there are limitations on the model of individual rationality, the model is undoubtedly worth being applied.

II. Self-Questioning & Discussion
1. How to define “the decision making unit”?
2. What is the economical analysis of individual rationality? And what is the interconnection between the economical and political individual rationality?
3. How does the author derive the collective choice model from individual rationality?
4. What are the limitations of individual rationality model? Do you think they are major or minor limitations?
5. Do the author’s further accounts of the limitations factually eliminate the uncertainty?

Recently....

Since i came back to taipei, I have not thought about anything fun, but routines, conferences, and reports. I cannot help but wonder why this exchange student year changed myself so much, that I could not even recognize this guy anymore. Is this a true self? Or it is just some reflected personality, by contrast, from another world!?