Book Reviews : Elite and Specialized Interviewing. By LEWIS ANTHONY DEXTER. (Evanston: Northwestern Univeresity Press, 1970. Pp. xiv, 205.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591297002300422 |
| Published date | 01 December 1970 |
| Date | 01 December 1970 |
| Author | David A. Caputo |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
884
and
feels
that
every
President
is
indeed
a
prisoner
of
his
own
&dquo;inner
circle.&dquo;
The
idea
is
not
a
new
one,
of
course,
but
Reedy’s
estimate
of
the
seriousness
of
the
problem
of
presidential
isolation
does
suggest
something
new
in
that
the
author
views
the
problem
as
posing
a
threat
to
the
proper
functioning
of
the
20th
century
Presidency.
The
book
is
particularly
timely
in
view
of
the
discussion
of
whether
President
Nixon
had
allowed
himself
to
become
&dquo;isolated&dquo;
to
the
point
that
he
was
shocked
by
adverse
public
reaction
to
his
Cambodian
move
in
the
spring
of
1970,
particularly
the
adverse
reaction
among
the
nation’s
youth.
One
question
suggested
by
Reedy’s
analysis
is
whether
simply
traveling
about
the
country,
as
the
President
has
been
doing,
is
enough
to
overcome
this
danger
of
isolation
from
public
opinion.
Reedy
does
suggest
that
one
American
institution
could
be
instrumental
in
helping
the
President
break
out
of
this shell
of
isolation
and
keep
his
finger
on
the
public
pulse.
That
institution
is
our
free
press
-
the
newspaper,
radio
and
tele-
vision
journalists
who
do
not
hesitate
to
speak
bluntly
in
the
reports
to
the
public.
The
press
could
be
helpful
to
the
President
if
he
will
listen,
Reedy
suggests,
but
many
Presidents
are
unwilling
to
listen.
Reedy
makes
little
reference
to
his
old
boss,
Lyndon
Johnson,
but
it
seems
clear
that
many
of
his
remarks
fit
the
former
President
as
well
as
the
incumbent
President.
Reedy’s
work
may
not
be
profound,
but
it is
insightful.
All
students
of
the
American
Presidency
would
do
well
to
ponder
the
difficult
problem
he
has
raised,
and
they
as
well
as
the
White
House
would
be
well
advised
to
devise
some
new
ways
to
counter
this
problem.
As
Reedy
suggests,
despite
his
pessimism,
it
may
still
not
be
too
late
to
prevent
this
threat
from
undermining
the
Presidency.
But
he
feels
if
something
is
not
done,
the
Presidency
will
inevitably
lose
much
of
its
capa-
city
for
national
leadership
to
the
permanent
detriment
of
the
American
people.
Bowling
Green
State
University
WILLIAM
C.
SPRAGENS
Elite
and
Specialized
Interviewing.
By
LEWIS
ANTHONY
DEXTER.
(Evanston:
Northwestern
Univeresity
Press,
1970.
Pp.
xiv,
205.)
Dexter’s
Elite
and
Specialized
Interviewing,
the
latest
addition
to
North-
western
University
Press’s
Handbooks
for
Research
in
Political
Behavior,
both
succeeds
and
fails.
This
short
and
readable
volume
is
a
welcome
addition
for
the
experienced
interviewer.
Dexter
raises
and
offers
new
insights
to
the
questions
of
whether
the
interview
is
the
right
or
best
technique
to
use
to
obtain
data,
the
role
of
theoretical
considerations
in
interview
construction,
and
the
ethical
paradoxes
involved
in
various
types
of
interview
situations.
Dexter
draws
a
dubious
distinction
between
deceiving
and
harming
the
interviewee.
He
feels
there
may
be
occasions
where
deception
by
the
interviewer
is
justified;
he
argues
that
under
no
circumstances
is
it
permissible
to
deceive
the
interviewee
to
the
point
of
harming
him.
Dexter
fails
to
point
out
the
subjective
nature
of
deception
and
the
fact
that
deception
may
alter
an
interviewee’s
response.
In
addition
to
considering
these
ethical
questions,
Dexter
develops
the
ration-
ale
for
and
mechanics
of
elite
and
specialized
interviewing
during
the
first
three
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