Book Reviews : Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi: Profile of a State Corporation. By CHARLES R. DECH- ERT. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1963. Pp. ix,116. Fls. 28.00.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296401700426 |
| Author | Frank Munk |
| Date | 01 December 1964 |
| Published date | 01 December 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
813
lation
of
a
code
of
ethics
for
congressmen,
and
the
introduction
of
a
&dquo;Bill
of
Rights&dquo;
for
committee
members.
In
addition
to
being
a
reasoned
plea
for
a
reevaluation
of
Congress,
the
book
provides
a
good
working
introduction
to
the
institution
and
its
peculiarities.
The
analysis
of
the
Congressional
Establishment,
for
example,
while
still
not
completely
satisfactory,
goes
beyond
previous
treatments
in
detailing
its
memberships
and
their
prejudices.
The
book
is
suggestive
and
stimulating.
Senator
Clark,
an
articulate
and
per-
sistent
foe
of
congressional
complacency,
has
made
a
valuable
addition
to
a
long
and
distinguished
line
of
works
on
the
need
for
legislative
reform.
University
of
Georgia
WILLIAM
J.
CROTTY
Ente
Nazionale
Idrocarburi:
Profile of
a
State
Corporation.
By
CHARLES
R.
DECH-
ERT.
(Leiden:
E.
J. Brill,
1963.
Pp.
ix,116.
Fls. 28.00.)
Professor
Dechert
of
Purdue
University
has
made
a
real
contribution
to
a
little-
explored
chapter
of
political
science
by
this
small
book,
which
is
a
storehouse
of
factual
information.
ENI,
the
Italian
state-owned
petroleum
trust,
represents
not
only
an
interesting
example
of
an
efficient
and
aggressive
public
corporation,
not
only
a
state
within
the
state
and
an
influence
within
the
domestic
politics
of
Italy,
but
is
in
effect
a
significant
international
role-player.
There
were
many
who
wondered
whether
it
would
survive
its
picturesque
founder,
Enrico
Mattei.
By
now
it
is
clear
that
it
has
played
and
that
it
will
continue
to
play
its
own
game
in
world
politics.
ENI
itself
is
but
the
holding
company
of
an
international
empire
operating
in
many
continents
and
in
numerous
industrial
fields.
Dechert
presents
some
interesting
organization
charts
and
other
data
which
would
be
of
value
to
any
student
of
indus-
trial
management
or
of
public
administration.
However,
the
most
absorbing
part
of
the
study
is
the
one
dealing
with
its
relations
with
the
major
international
oil
com-
panies.
It
is
quite
evident
that
a
war
of
substantial
proportions
has
been
going
on
since
1954
between
ENI
on
one
side,
and
Standard
Oil,
the
Compagnie
Fran~aise
des
P6troles,
the
British
Petroleum
Company,
and
the
rest
of
what
is
sometimes
referred
to
as
the
&dquo;Seven
Sisters.&dquo;
Whether
it
is
due
largely
to
the
fact
that
Mattei
was
treated
brusquely
by
Jersey’s
President,
Holman,
during
a
visit
to
New
York,
as
the
author
avers,
may
be
open
to
question.
The
fact
that
ENI
has
been
a
thorn
in
the
flesh
of
private
oil
interests
is
not.
It
is
well
known
that
one
of
ENI’s
principal
business
advantages
has
been
pro-
vided
by
purchases
of
Soviet
crude
oil.
From
the
long-range
point
of
view
its
greatest
impact
may
have
consisted
of
its
politicizing
the
petroleum
industry
by
offering
cooperation
on
more
favorable
terms
to
newly
emerging
states,
including
the
famous
75:25
formula
it
applies
in
Iran,
Egypt
and
Libya.
It
frankly
appeals
to
the
ruling
elites
of
the
new
countries
by
slogans
of
nationalism,
anticolonialism
and
socialism,
or
rather
of
a
mixed
economy,
in
which
&dquo;energy
sources
are
pre-eminently
a
matter
of
public
interest
and
cannot
safely
be
left
to
private
concerns
operating
on
a
profit
motive.&dquo;
ENI
has
proved
to
be
highly
acceptable
to
the
political
elites
of
Africa
and
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