Word: idea
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...assumptions co-exist, rather awkwardly, in the General's mind. There is first an optimistic postulate according to which the French nation, underneath all its divisions, still possesses a dormant general will which could be aroused by a dynamic and stable government. There is also the pessimistic idea that the divisions of the electorate are here to stay, that no constitutional trickery could erase them, and consequently that the Executive will be strong only if it is removed from intimate contact with an electorate and a Parliament which remain unable to produce a coherent majority...
...hand, paliamentary government will continue. Governments will again require parliamentary support for their establishment and their survival, as the difference of American cabinets. The idea of having France's chief executive elected by universal suffrage has not been adopted, partly because of plebiscitarian memories, partly because of the fundamental nature of France's divisions. Except if he resorted to dictatorial manipulations, a popularly elected French president would be likely to represent no more than a small fraction of the electorate, and his authority would be open to constant challenge. A presidential system works effectively only if the great bulk...
...down his hand for all to see. London whist players who tried the new game soon noted that the exposed hand made possible much greater subtlety and ingenuity of play. In 1903 or thereabouts, bridge-playing British civil servants stationed at a remote outpost in India hit upon the idea of bidding for the privilege of naming the trump suit. Within a decade, auction bridge had captured the card tables of the U.S. and Europe...
Seizing on the "ceiling" principle, Vanderbilt added an idea of his own: a partnership would have to bid a slam in order to get a slam bonus (in both plafond and U.S.-British auction, the bonus was awarded whether the slam was bid or not). The mechanics and scoring of the new game-with slam bonuses increased tenfold and more-were worked out by Vanderbilt and three card-playing friends on a cruise to Havana in November 1925. Contract was born...
...trump bidding he adopted Milton Work's method of evaluating a hand with a point count: four points for an ace, three for a king, two for a queen, one for a jack. Entranced by the point count's simplicity, Goren devoted numberless hours to expanding the idea into a general bidding method. "It took me about 15 years," he says, "and I had some very expert help." Most valuable helper: Toronto Insurance Executive William M. Anderson, a bridge buff and mathematician...