Book Reviews : Ben Gurion, State-Builder. By AVRAHAM AVI-HAI. (New York: Halsted Press, 1974. Pp. 354. $12.50.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591297402700434 |
| Date | 01 December 1974 |
| Published date | 01 December 1974 |
| Author | Judy Bertelsen |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
766
countries
of
South
Asia - Nepal,
Afghanista.n,
Sri
Lanka,
and
Pakistan - and
saved
India
(on
which
more
abundant
resources
are
available)
until
later.
I
believe
that
undergraduates
will
find
the
Sri
Lanka
book
clearer
and
more
readable
than
earlier
publications
in
the
series.
After
succinct
demographic
and
historical
introduction
to
the
island,
Kearney
outlines
the
structure
and
operation
of
Ceylonese
governments
under
the
1972
Constitution
and
its
predecessor.
He
provides
extensive
data
on
the
ethnic
and
socioeconomic
background
of
both
members
of
Parliament
and
cabinet
members,
though
one
gets
the
impression
that
some
of
this
information
is
included
simply
because
of
its
availability.
The
author
might
have
made
its
meaningfulness
more
explicit.
Sri
Lanka’s
party
system
is
one
of
the
few
among
the
newly
independent
states
to
have
featured
a
regular
and
peaceful
alternation
of
party
governments.
Kear-
ney’s
chapters
on
parties
and
elections
describe
clearly
and
interestingly
both
the
evolution
of
the
predominantly
two-party
system
and
the
working
of
the
electoral
process.
Unfortunately,
the
later
discussion
of
communal
loyalties
and
political
groups
repeats
too
much
of
the
demographic
information
already
provided
in
the
intro-
ductory
chapter.
Likewise,
the
final
pages
of
the
book
are
marred
by
the
author’s
belated
attempt
to
apply
to
Sri
Lanka
a
grab-bag
of
political
development
theories,
some
of
which
might
more
effectively
have
been
introduced
earlier.
As
such,
the
concluding
discussion
comes
across
as
an
ill-fitting
appendage
rather
than
as
an
integral
part
of
the
text.
A
textbook
on
a
country
like
Sri
Lanka
may
be
judged
according
to
three
criteria:
(1)
how
well
it
acquaints
us
with
the
country
and
its
politics;
(2)
how
well
it
contributes
to
our
understanding
of
comparative
politics
by
drawing
cross-
national
comparisons;
and
(3)
how
well
it
furthers
the
study
of
politics
generally
by
applying
and
testing
prevailing
concepts
and
models
within
the
specific
country
being
considered.
The
Politics
of
Ceylon
(Sri
Lanka)
scores
highest
on
the
first
criterion,
moderately
well
on
the
second,
and
rather
low
on
the
third.
The
South
Asian
Political
Systems series
is
a
welcome
step
in
the
right
direction,
but
it
does
not
fully
satisfy
the
need
for
a
cross-nationa,l
comparative
analysis
of
this
region.
Kansas
State
University
WILLIAM
L.
RICHTER
Ben
Gurion,
State-Builder.
By
AVRAHAM
AVI-HAI.
(New
York:
Halsted
Press,
1974.
Pp. 354.
$12.50.)
This
political
biography
chronicles
and
analyzes
Ben
Gurion’s
period
of
public
office
in
Israel
(1948-1963),
using
a
framework
consisting
of
three
main
theses:
( 1 )
&dquo;that
effective
national
leadership
stemmed
from
the
pragmatic
solution
of
major
state
problems
and
crises
in
accordance
with
the
fundamental
aims
and
principles
of
the
leader&dquo;;
(2)
that
&dquo;the
state
leader,
particularly
in
a
post-
revolutionary
situation,
tends
to
maximize
the
power
of
state
institutions
and
to
minimize
that
of
rival
frameworks
in
order
to
achieve
his
aims
of
state-building&dquo; ;
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