Book Reviews : Power and Politics in Labor Legislation. By ALAN K. McADAMS. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964. Pp. 346. $7.50.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296401700449
• Date: 01 December 1964
• Published date: 01 December 1964
• Author: Dennis Killeen
• Subject Matter: Articles

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miration for Charles E. Merriam whom he believes was primarily responsible for the
introduction of a dynamic approach to the study of government and whom he follows
in laying down a pattern of research for the profession to follow.
Profesor Lasswell open his book by setting rather narrow bounds for political
science. &dquo;The distinctive concern of political science,&dquo; he writes, &dquo;is with the politi-
cal process itself.&dquo; And he limits his inquiry to considerations of scope, method, and
impact in the problem-solving approach to human affairs. After offering some pre-
liminary remarks on the profession, he divides the content material of his book into
four parts. He is first concerned about the quality of current research and recom-
mends an elaborate scheme of data organization. He then discusses various kinds
of experimentation like prototyping that could be used to improve data testing. He
is interested also in getting the data into the hands of scholars and the general public.
And finally he analyzes the conditions for creativity in the profession, in research,
teaching, and graduate training. These topics present, on the whole, a good prelimi-
nary survey of professional problems in a nontechnical form.
The reader will have his own opinions about the originality and value of the
many topics discussed. This reviewer thinks the last section on centers of advanced
study is especially timely. Professor Lasswell believes that the university has become
too large in size to operate effectively as an intellectual community. Even members
of the same department do not know each other, and much less the members of
allied disciplines. Professor Lasswell recommends the creation of centers of advanced
study where scholars investigating similar problems can gather. He sees these centers
as laboratories, meeting places for the disciplines, and an escape from the crowd. He
believes, also, the centers may well free the scholar from the straight jackets imposed
by...