Book Reviews and Notices : Free Government in the Making: Readings in American Political Thought. By ALPHEUS THOMAS MASON. (New York: Oxford University Press. 1949. Pp. xviii, 846. $6.00.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400129
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

150

machinery

of

the

federal

government.&dquo;

It

may

well

be

that

these

over-

drawn

generalizations

represent

part

of

the

price

we

have

to

pay

for

the

advantages

we

enjoy.

This

is

not

to

despair

of

improvement

so

much

as

to

point

out

that

the

democratic

process

does

contain

the

means

of

self-improvement.

Indeed,

Mr.

Biddle’s

historical

references,

although

brief,

are

adequate

testimony

to

this

thought.

All

he

would

have

us

do

is

move

more

rapidly

along

the

liberal

path

he

lays

out.

This

volume

is

a

challenging,

empirical

approach

to

current

problems.

It

is

readable,

provocative,

and

thoughtful,

if

not

entirely

conclusive.

University

of

New

Mexico.

ALBERT

C.

F.

WESTPHAL.

Free

Government

in

the

Making:

Readings in

American

Political

Thought.

By

ALPHEUS

THOMAS

MASON.

(New

York:

Oxford

University

Press.

1949.

Pp.

xviii,

846.

$6.00.)

In

the

study

of

political

thought,

nothing

is

so

eloquent

as

the

text

of

the

document

which

has

formed

the

basis

of

political

action.

It

is

the

document

which

has

either

led

directly

to

political

action,

has

provided

the

basis

for

it,

or

has

subsequently

justified

and

explained

it

as

significant

and

meaningful.

The

mere

document,

standing

alone,

without

reference

to

and

explanation

of

the

political,

social,

and

economic

background

which

produced

it,

offers

little

for

productive

inquiry.

Unlike

an

author,

an

editor

of

readings

is

beset

with

the

problem

of

selecting

and

organizing

the

materials

of

others.

In

attempting

such

a

task,

the

editor

seldom

pleases

anyone.

By

all

reasonable

standards

of

judgment,

Professor

Mason

has

succeeded

where

many

have

failed.

He

has

also

provided

the

explanatory

background.

In

these

days

of

emphasis

on

contemporary

political

science,

and

especially

on

international

relations

and

public

administration,

political

theory

sometimes

appears

to

be

the

stepchild

of

the

discipline.

American

political

thought

too

often

seems

not

to

enjoy

even

this

remote

relation,

ship.

Then,

too,

in

our

solicitude

to

urge

the claims

of

the

political

theory

of

the

West,

we

neglect

the

political

philosophy

of

that

part

of

the

West

which

today

occupies

primacy

in

world

leadership.

Whether

there

is

an

American

political

theory

today

is

a

question

which,

as

some

have

said,

begins

and

ends

with

the

definition

of

theory.

There

is,

throughout

American

history,

a

continuing

body

of

political

thinking

the

sources

of

which

are

scattered

and

frequently

indeterminate.

Nevertheless,

they

may

be

found

for

the

searching.

In

days

of

most

vigorous

political

action,

the

underlying

doctrine

persists.

It

is

sometimes

forgotten

that

the

United

States,

like

other

countries,

experiences

periods

when

theory

discussions

are

at

flood

or

even

spring

tide.

Such

periods