Book Reviews : Contemporary Social Issues. By RAYMOND L. LEE, JAMES A. BURKHART, and VAN B. SHAW. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. 1955. Pp. xv, 846. $3.95.)

• Author: Norman L. Stamps
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900142
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• Subject Matter: Articles

211

tionalization

of

land,

or

at

least

the

confiscation

of

rent.

But

of

greater

importance

to

George

-

for

it

underlies

the

significance

of

the

economic

argument - is

the

&dquo;moral

sequence&dquo;

comprising,

in

the

early

and

in

the

concluding

chapters

of

the

work,

a

finding

of

injustice

in

modern

economic

society,

an

assertion

of

the

relevance

of

radical

democratic

ideology,

and

an

appeal

to

moral

sense.

Professor

Barker

notes

that

both

lines

of

argument

were

essential

to

George.

Had

he

been

an

ordinary

nineteenth-century

believer

in

the

idea

of

social

progress

as

a

nearly

automatic

process,

Barker

writes,

he

could

have

contented

himself

with

the

&dquo;economic

syllogism.&dquo;

But

since

it

was

George’s

judgment

that

morality,

not

economics,

had

fallen

short,

he

had

to

give

more

than

a

technical

answer

to

the

problem

of

poverty.

In

sum,

and

in

Barker’s

words,

&dquo;For

the

struggle

of

good

with

evil,

present

in

all

history,

was

to

Henry

George

the

process

that

reduces

economics

and

religion

to

common

terms.&dquo;

Henry

George

was

a

man

of

great

persuasiveness

and

zeal

in

advocating

a

relatively

limited

number

of

ideas.

Yet,

as

Professor

Barker

unrolls

the

story

it

becomes

evident

that

the

personality

behind

those

ideas

was

deep

and

even

complex.

Certainly

students

of

the

reform

spirit

would

do

well

to

consult

this

study.

University

of

Washington.

WILLIAM

H.

HARBOLD.

Contemporary

Social

Issues.

By

RAYMOND

L.

LEE,

JAMES

A.

BURKHART,

and

VAN

B.

SHAW.

(New

York:

Thomas

Y.

Crowell.

1955.

Pp.

xv,

846.

$3.95.)

This

volume

has

been

prepared

for

an

integrated

social

studies

course

using

the

problems

approach.

The

book

is

divided

into

nine

chapters

each

of

which

is

subdivided

into

problems,

there

being

thirty

of

these

divisions

in

all.

The

authors

have

not

attempted

to

provide

a

survey

of

the

social

sciences

but

have

sought

to

select

readings

centered

around

concrete

issues

which

will

stimulate

critical

thinking

and

provoke

classroom

discussion.

Some

of

the

topics

covered

include

society

and

social

change,

democracy

in

a

changing

world,

the

totalitarian

challenge,

civil

liberties,

personal

maladjustment

and

crime,

and

family

in

a

changing

society,

racial

and

cultural

minorities,

rival

economic

ideologies,

and

the

evolution

of

modern

capitalism.

Four

general

problems

are

raised

in

the

chapter

dealing

with

&dquo;The

Politics

and

Administration

of

American

Government&dquo;:

(1)

whether

political

parties

are

purposeful

or

merely

partisan;

(2)

whether

the

office

of

President

is

equal

to

the

job;

(3)

whether

Congress

represents

merely

confusion

or

cultural

reflection;

and

(4)

the

question

of

judicial

review.