Book Reviews : Anti-Politics in America. By JOHN H. BUNZEL. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967. Pp. xi, 291. $6.95.)

• Author: William C. Spragens
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296702000416
• Published date: 01 December 1967
• Date: 01 December 1967
• Subject Matter: Articles

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Although it is not the purpose of the book to present an integrated analysis of
Latin America, some of the individual chapters are a useful addition to the literature
of the area.
DONALD L. HERMAN
Grand Valley State College
Anti-Politics in America. By JOHN H. BUNZEL. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967.
Pp. xi, 291. $6.95.)
This book-length essay’s principal argument is that there is a many-faceted
strain of reductionism in American political thought -
whether stated in right-wing,
left-wing, moralistic, psychological or economic terms.
&dquo;It is surprising how many people are activated by an animus against politics,&dquo;
Bunzel observes in interpreting Madison’s familiar view of the function of democra-
tic politics. The author observes that the totalitarian notion of order dispenses with
politics, an art which he calls &dquo;the civilizing process of conciliation.&dquo;
Bunzel finds of right-wing reductionism that its &dquo;hostility to democratic politics
is in
...
large measure the result of its fundamentalist roots.&dquo; He contrasts...