Book Reviews : Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics. By SEYMOUR MARTIN LIPSET. (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1960. Pp. 432. $4.95.)

• Published date: 01 June 1960
• Date: 01 June 1960
• Author: Ross A. Gomez
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296001300236
• Subject Matter: Articles

543

Part

III,

&dquo;Political

Man,&dquo;

considers

&dquo;one

set

of

independent

variables.&dquo;

Here

is

presented

the

current

state

of

research

concerning

how

man’s

needs

are

ex-

pressed

in

politics.

Part

IV,

&dquo;The

Group

Life

of

Political

Man&dquo;

and

Part

V,

&dquo;The

Effect

of

Social

Institutions

on

Political

Life,&dquo;

represent

the

other

matrix

of

independent

variables

which

may

be

grossly

described

as

social

or

environ-

mental.

Part

IV

includes

discussions

of

social

structure,

ethnic

factors,

family,

sex,

age,

and

group

influences

on

political

participation.

Part

V

grapples

with

mass

media

and

the

relationship

between

political

and

economic

institutions

and

political

life.

In

Part

VI,

&dquo;Popular

Government

and

the

Good

Society,&dquo;

Professor

Lane

comes

to

grips

with

the

implications

of

the

preceding

336

pages

of

rich

data

and

conceptualization.

It

is

most

refreshing

that

he

does

not

dodge

the

issues

by

over-generalized

verbalizations.

He

assesses

the

individual

and

social

gains

and

losses

of

wide

participation

with

sympathy

and

erudition,

and

finds

that

for

in-

dividuals

and

for

society

there

are

multiple

advantages

and

disadvantages

accru-

ing

from

broad

participation.

He

concludes

that

for

the

individual there

is

a

balance

between

the

rewards

and

punishments,

but

for

society

there

is

a

net

gain.

That

is

to

say

that

the

accepted

values

of

American

society

become

on

the

whole

more

secure

as

a

result

of

wide

popular

participation

-

this,

despite

Lane’s

recognition

of

the

considerable

risks

involved

in

such

increased

participation.

Since

&dquo;society

is

more

likely

to

give

’liberty

and

justice

for

all’

if

some

ap-

proximation

of

’all’

participate

in

politics,&dquo;

Professor

Lane

presents

thirteen

sug-

gestions

calculated

to

achieve

this

result.

Several

of

these

are

not

new,

but

some

are

fresh

and

imaginative:

increasing

the

self-esteem

of

depressed

groups,

politi-

cizing

&dquo;the

female

role,&dquo;

politicizing

social

organizations,

and

encouraging

the

search

for

political

understanding

(as

distinguished

from

mere

information

about

politics).

The

book

is

not

without

shortcomings.

Some

important

matters

are

omitted.

We

are

offered

no

evaluation

of

the

various

methods

used

by

the

researchers

whose

findings

are

used,

and

in

some

places

evidence

is

scanty.

Considerably

more

psychological

data

would

have

been

welcome.

But

this

is

mere

carping

when

one

considers

the

solid

quality

of

the

whole.

After

reading

it

(I

am

nothing

if

not

optimistic),

I

cannot

believe

that

some

of

the

traditionalists

who

seem

to

view

&dquo;political

behavior&dquo;

snidely,

or

contemptuously,

or

condescendingly,

or

dis-

dainfully,

will

be

able

to

maintain

such

an

attitude

with

equanimity.

It

also

strikes

a

lusty

blow

at

those

critics

who

hold

that

political

scientists

are

une-

quipped

to

utilize

the

rarefied

methods

and

concepts

of

the

other

social

sciences.

University

of

Washington

ALEX

GOTTFRIED

Political

Man: The

Social

Bases

of

Politics.

By

SEYMOUR

MARTIN

LIPSET.

(New

York:

Doubleday

and

Company,

1960.

Pp. 432.

$4.95.)

Professor

Seymour

Martin

Lipset

of

the

University

of

California,

Berkeley,

with

this

book

adds

to

the

lengthening

shelf

of

provocative

works

coming

from

the

pens

of

political

sociologists.

This

reviewer,

for

one,

has

greeted

these

works