ABSTRACT
Constitutions, judicial systems, and administrative arrangements can all be either convergent or divergent. Convergence is most dramatically and unambiguously illustrated by birth and fertility rates. Curiously enough, some indicators that least lend themselves to detailed numerical expression give the most unambiguous evidence of convergence. The ultimate adoption of the five basic elements of modern welfare programs previously described illustrates another important point, which is that the paths to a point of convergence need not be common or uniform; indeed, they may be quite diverse, even unique. On a summary scale of divergence this may seem to average out to the same amount of change; but the social significance of the two outcomes may be quite different. Evidently, by the time they have reached their present point of development all the industrial nations are doing the essential things, and their students are performing near their ceiling.
