Book Reviews and Notices : Area and Administration. BY JAMES W. FESLER. (University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. 1949. Pp. 158. $2.50.)

• Author: Troy R. Westmeyer
• Date: 01 December 1949
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294900200451
• Published date: 01 December 1949
• Subject Matter: Articles

667
To the reviewer it seems a completely competent piece of scholarly
reporting on a subject on which information has been inadequate. The
text is erected on an impressive foundation of footnotes; the language is
carefully cut and straight-grained. Generous use of dates and statistics
gives firmness and preciseness. In short, the book is a welcome contribu-
tion to the literature both of Canadian government and of public ad-
ministration.
Professor Cole’s interest in bureaucracy in the modern state goes
back at least to the study of the Swiss bureaucracy which he published
jointly with Professor Friedrich. On the evidence, his interests in the sub-
ject are broad and imaginative. It is a matter of regret, therefore, that in
the present work he limited himself so strictly to the reportorial function
and did not allow himself more play of creative imagination or exercise
of the critical faculty in the areas where &dquo;bureaucracy&dquo; intersects the
fields of comparative government, political philosophy, and sociology. This
is in no sense a criticism of the book that Professor Cole chose to write.
It is a hope, expressed from the viewpoint of the reviewer’s interests, that
he will write another one in an area in which the need is great and his
qualifications are outstanding.
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DWIGHT WALDO.
DWIGHT
University of California.
Area and Administration. BY JAMES W. FESLER. (University, Alabama:
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