Book Reviews : Political Opinion. By THE ASSOCIATION FOR PLANNING, with HENRY W. DURANT. (New York: The Macmillan Co. 1950. Pp. 55. $2.00.)

• Published date: 01 September 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400324
• Author: Leroy C. Ferguson
• Date: 01 September 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

507

The

monopoly

principle

raises

many

questions

of

public

policy.

Per-

haps

the

most

interesting

from

the

American

viewpoint

is

that

of

political

control

of

broadcasting

on

controversial

questions.

Parliamentary

(hence

political)

influence

on

B.B.C.

programing

has

never

been

direct;

there

has,

in

fact,

been

a

lively

sensitiveness

to

the

implicit

dangers.

With

in-

creasing

experience,

the

B.B.C.

has

engaged

in

controversy,

even

on

current

political

questions,

without

any

interference

with

its

own

judg-

ment

on

subject

matter,

speakers,

or

allocation

of

time.

The

author

high-

lights

the

very

few

examples

of

official

&dquo;interposition&dquo;:

each

has

led

to

a

more

determined

hands,off

policy.

The

B.B.C.

seems

today

to

be

com-

pletely

immune

from

any

kind

of

interference.

The

other

major

issue

for

us

in

a

monopoly

policy

is,

of

course,

com-

mercialization.

British

practice

has

made

possible

the

use

of

the

radio

for

educational

and

cultural

purposes

to

a

degree

we

can

hardly

realize

here.

Tastes

in

entertainment

differ.

If

ours

is

superior,

as

many

believe,

it

has

been

achieved

at

a

cost

incalculable

in

money

(except

to

the

industry),

but

calculable

in

the

range

and

quality

of

opportunities

for

adult

educa-

tion.

That

our

policy

is

inferior

in

this

respect

is

widely

believed

on

both

sides

of

the

Atlantic.

Whether

a

competitive

commercial

broadcasting

system

in

England

is

desired

has

no

doubt

been

settled

for

the

immediate

future

by

the

Beveridge

Committee

report.

The

most

recent

Gallup

poll

on

the

question

(Time,

Feb.

26,

1951)

indicates

a

majority

in

England

would

favor

it.

Dr.

Coase’s

study

is

interesting

to

us

chiefly

because

of

the

insights

he

gives

into

public

policy

and

of

public

opinion

as

to

government

enterprise.

His

study

offers

the

most

thorough

and

incisive

analysis

we

have

yet

had

of

these

aspects

of

the

origin

and

growth

of

the

B.B.C.

Syracuse

University.

PHILLIPS

BRADLEY.

Political

Opinion.

By

THE

ASSOCIATION

FOR

PLANNING,

with

HENRY

W.

DURANT.

(New

York:

The

Macmillan

Co.

1950.

Pp.

55.

$2.00.)

This

slender

volume

consists

mainly

of

a

series

of

maps

and

tables

which

present

data

regarding

four

recent

British

elections:

those

of

1929,

1931, 1935,

and

1945.

An

introductory

series

of

six

tables

analyzes

the

1945

election

results

in

respect

to

sex,

age

groups,

social

classes,

and

occupation.

These

classifications

are

based

on

two

surveys

taken

by

the

British

Institute

of

Public

Opinion

at

the

time

of

the

1945

election.

The

tables

are

followed

by

eight

maps.

Two

dealing

with

the

1945

elections

show

regional

voting

by

parties,

and

also,

seats

contested

and

won.

Four

show

by

constituency

the

percentage

of

the

total

vote

won

by

each

party,

and

the

percentage

of

non-voters

for

the

four

general

elections.

Another

shows

the

percentage