Book Reviews and Notices : The More Perfect Union. BY ROBERT M. MACIVER. (New York: The Macmillan Company. 1948. Pp. 301. $3.50.)
| Published date | 01 September 1949 |
| Date | 01 September 1949 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591294900200323 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
441
ness
in
his
theory
of
socialist
behavior.
Writing
just
before
the
Tito
affair,
Sweezy
assures
us
that
henceforth
we
will
find,
among
the
so-
cialist
countries
of
Europe,
&dquo;the
replacement
of
policies
leading
to
po-
litical
and
economic
antagonisms
by
policies
of
mutual
conciliation
and
collaboration.&dquo;
This
theory
of
socialist
brotherhood
must
now
be
con-
sidered
against
the
suspicion
of
Russian
exploitation
of
its
neighbors.
Due
perhaps
to
limitations
of
space,
the
book
suffers
from
unde-
fended
dogmatisms
and
inadequately
presented
arguments.
The
author
speaks
of
a
lack
of
class
conflict
under
socialism
because
there
is
no
separate
class
of
employers,
except
the
state.
But
private
production
under
capitalism
becomes
social
production
under
socialism,
and
strikes
in
the
latter
case,
being
directed
against
the
state,
may
take
on
aspects
of
treason.
Enough
has
been
written
of
the
problems
that
unions
would
face
under
socialism,
and
of
possible
exploitation
of
workers
in
order
that
plans
be
achieved
for
Sweezy
to
have
further
considered
whether
class
conflict
might
not
disappear
more
in
name
than
in
form.
In
other
respects
he
does
ably
discuss
several
objections
to
socialism,
and
strongly
indicates
the
compatibility
of
socialism
with
incentives
and
with
freedom.
In
Socialism,
Sweezy
has
written
a
preliminary
to
his
earlier
Theory
of
Capitalist
Development.
As
an
introduction
to
the
study
of
socialism
this
book
is
an
interesting
and
valuable
aid.
University
of Utah.
ROBERT
HAMMER.
The
More
Perfect
Union.
BY
ROBERT
M.
MACIVER.
(New
York:
The
Macmillan
Company.
1948.
Pp.
301.
$3.50.)
Professor
Maclver
presents
here
a
scholarly
study
of
the
problems
involved
in
&dquo;group-to-group
relationships,&dquo;
which
he
depicts
as
the
&dquo;cen-
tral
problem
of
modern
society.&dquo;
As
one
would
expect
from
an
ac-
quaintance
with
other
works
of
the
author,
the
central
theme
is
that
of
&dquo;the
unity
of
the
greater
community&dquo;
as
against
the
&dquo;compartmentaliza-
tion
of
group
interests.&dquo;
The
problem
involved
is
one
of
the
social
con-
trol
of
discrimination
or
the
denial
of
equal
access
to
public
opportunity.
A
review
of
this
book
would
be
incomplete
without
commenting
upon
the
author’s
purpose
in
dealing
with
this
problem,
a
purpose
which
.
should
be
kept
in
mind
by
others
doing
research
in
the
social
sciences.
Professor
Maclver
states:
The
unfortunate
consequence
is
that
generally
the
most
scientific
studies
convey
no
message
to
the
framers
of
social
policy;
while
the
mass
of
exhortatory
or
advisory
literature
has
no
sure
foundation
in
scientific
knowledge....
Political
scientists,
econo-
mists,
and
sociologists
are
being
forced
by
the
demands
of
our
times
to
realize
that
much
of
their
research
is
abortive
unless
they
can
draw
from
it
lessons
it
can
teach.
(P.
17.)
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