Book Reviews and Notices : Government in American Society. By RAY F. HARVEY, THEODORE H. SKIN NER, ALBERT SOMIT, and RITA W. NEALON. (New York: William Sloane Associates. 1950. Pp. xv, 580. $3.00.)

• Published date: 01 March 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400152
• Author: Robert F. Karsch
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

175

the

Southwest

in

1848;

and

one

must

agree,

after

reading

the

book,

that

the

century

which

followed

was

one

rather

more

of

development

than

dishonor.

Dale

counsels

us

in

fact

not

to

drop

the

federal

program

of

assistance,

and

particularly

education,

for

through

education

the

Indian

may

be

fitted

eventually

to

become

a

part

of

the

white

civilization

which

envelops

him.

The

author

believes

that

state

and

local

governments

could

not

afford

the

service

now

provided

by

the

federal

government.

One

hopes,

with

the

author,

that

the

book

will

be

a

point

of

departure

for

further

studies

of

the

same

problem.

University

of

Utah.

C.

GREGORY

CRAMPTON.

Government

in

American

Society.

By

RAY

F.

HARVEY,

THEODORE

H.

SKIN-

NER,

ALBERT

SOMIT,

and

RITA

W.

NEALON.

(New

York:

William

Sloane

Associates.

1950.

Pp.

xv,

580.

$3.00.)

This

is

a

new

type

of

book

on

collateral

readings

in

American

gov-

ernment,

emphasizing

the

impact

of

economic

developments

and

ignoring

many

aspects

of

structure

and

function

which

are

traditionally

included.

Heretofore,

such

collections

used

in

the

introductory

course

have

gener-

ally

paralleled

the

content

of

the

standard

textbooks,

although

a

few

have

emphasized

constitutional

law;

and

others,

the

assumptions

of

demo-

cratic

ideology.

The

appearance

of

this

volume

evidences

a

growing

appreciation

of

the

relation

between

economics

and

politics.

The

book

does

not

pretend

to

serve

upper-class

courses

in

public

regulation.

Considering

the

focus,

the

selections

are

well

chosen,

and

are

up-to-date

and

stimulating.

They

are

equally

divided

between

the

documentary

and

the

interpretive,

and

are

grouped

under

nine

subject

headings:

the

power

of

government,

response

to

social

need,

governmental

structure,

costs

of

government,

the

farmer,

business,

labor,

natural

re~

sources,

and

foreign

involvements.

The

more

generous

allotments

of

space

go

to

the

governments

response

to

social

need,

the

cost

of

big

govern-

ment,

and

labor.

Generally,

the

book

does

not

wear

a

&dquo;debate&dquo;

aspect.

With

minor

exceptions

the

selections

appear

to

reflect

a

tacit

assumption

on

the

part

of

the

editors

that

planning

is

here

to

stay,

that

government

will

play

quite

properly

an

increasing

role

in

handling

economic

and

social

problems,

and

that

constitutional

law

and

democratic

ideology

must

adapt

themselves

to

the

new

order.

Certainly,

much

can

be

said

for

infusing

more

realism

into

the

basic

course

on

American

government;

nevertheless,

it

is

important

to

guard

against

letting

a

zeal

for

economics

and

administration

obscure

certain

other

fundamental

verities

of

our

democratic

institutions.

Tak-

ing

the

book

as

it

stands,

it

needs

a

little

corrective

ballast

from

the