Book Reviews : Principles of American Government. By ALBERT B. SAYE, MERRITT B. POUND, and JOHN F. ALLUMS. (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1950. Pp. vii, 451. $3.75.)

• Date: 01 December 1951
• Author: W.A. Mcclenaghan
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400429
• Published date: 01 December 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

672

which

the

right

of

freedom

of

assembly

can

be

crucified

by

American

extremists

from

the

so-called

left

and

right

is

contained

in

the

American

Civil

Liberties

Union’s

report,

&dquo;Violence

in

Peekskill.&dquo;

This

reviewer

cannot

quarrel

with

what

appears

in

this

volume,

but

it

seems

to

him

that

there

are

serious

omissions

which

might

have

been

supplied

from

sources

close

at

hand.

For

a

book

which

presumes

to

inform

the

reader

of

the

true

nature

of

Communism

there

is

no

suggestion

either

by

the

editor

or

in

the

readings

of

the

differences

between

Marxism

and

Communism,

or

of

the

various

differing

views

among

Marxist-Leninists,

Stalinists,

Trotskyists,

and

Titoists,

in

Europe

and

in

America.

There

is

no

mention

of

the

possible

influence

upon

native

Communist

movements

that

such

factors

may

have

in

furthering

internal

dissension

within

the

world

Communist

movement.

Professor

Palmer

is

correct

in

emphasizing

that

one

of

the

reasons

why

Communism

is

being

accepted

by

half

the

population

of

the

world

is

that

it

has

the

attraction

of

a

dogma.

The

&dquo;religious&dquo;

force

of

Com-

munism

is

certainly

one

of

its

strongest

elements,

but

neither

the

editor

nor

the

authors

of

his

reading

selections

gives

us

any

suggestions

why

this

secular

faith

should

inspire

an

~lan

vital.

It

is

particularly

lamentable

that

selections

from

American

Com-

munists

have

not

been

included

which

would

state

their

position

to

the

reader-who

certainly

must

be

curious

to

know

why

Americans

become

enemies

of

their

country.

The

plethora

of

relevant

materials

available

in

such

sources

as

the

Daily

Worker,

Political

Affairs,

the

New

Masses,

and

Masses

and

Mainstream

has

been

neglected.

William

Z.

Foster’s

lengthy

discussion

of

Marxist-Leninist-Stalinism,

written

in

1949

and

entitled

&dquo;In

Defense

of

the

Communist

Party

and

the

Indicted

Leaders,&dquo;

would

have

been

particularly

appropriate

in

this

book

of

readings.

Michigan

State

College.

CARROLL

HAWKINS.

Principles

of

American

Government.

By

ALBERT

B.

SAYE,

MERRITT

B.

POUND,

and

JOHN

F.

ALLUMS.

(New

York:

Prentice-Hall,

Inc.

1950.

Pp.

vii,

451.

$3.75.)

This

basic

text

might

best

be

described

as

a

handbook.

The

authors

have

hewed

to

the

line

set

in

their

prefatory

statement:

&dquo;The

condensation

of

material

in

the

text

is

designed

to

conserve

time

so

that

students

will

be

able

to

read

in

the

sources.&dquo;

As

the

entire

textual

content

embraces

less

than

400

pages,

the

book

certainly

achieves

this

modest

goal.

It

is

organized

in

the

traditional

form

long

since

established

for

texts

in

the

field.

For

those

who

desire

a

text

written

in

near-outline

style,