Book Reviews : Pathways to Parliament: Candidate Selection in Britain. By AUSTIN RANNEY. ( Madison : The University of Wisconsin Press, 1965. Pp. xv, 298. $6.50.)

• Date: 01 March 1966
• Published date: 01 March 1966
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900147
• Subject Matter: Articles

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The Proceedings forms an excellent compilation of materials which should be
of special value to all involved in public administration training, including the prac-
titioner, the professor and the student. The practitioner faced with problems of con-
tinuing education in the public service will appreciate the practicality of the infor-
mation, the student and professor will find the material valuable both for content
and as a supplement for class work.
STEWART L. GROW
Brigham Young University
Pathways to Parliament: Candidate Selection in Britain. By AUSTIN RANNEY.
( Madison : The University of Wisconsin Press, 1965. Pp. xv, 298. $6.50.)
It is a pleasure to recommend this excellent study of the process of party nom-
ination of candidates to run for the House of Commons. As E. E. Schattschneider
declared over a generation ago, &dquo;The nominating process ... has become the crucial
process of the party.&dquo; Elected M.P.’s have a determining voice in party policy for
both major parties. I cannot recall another good empirical study which can be
accounted for principally on the theory of party responsibility.
Professor Ranney’s volume disturbs some of the unverified myths spread by the
party responsibility school. Perhaps the most important of these is the theory ex-
pounded as fact by Herman Finer and others that party discipline in the House of
Commons depends upon the capacity of the central party organization to place loyal
candidates and to discipline wayward M.P.’s. The evidence that this volume presents
suggests that in the Conservative party a major source of discipline comes from the
local...