Book Reviews : Public Policy, Volume XIV. Edited by JOHN D. MONTGOMERY and ARTHUR SMITHIES. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965. Pp. 455.)
| Author | Robert J. McNeill |
| Published date | 01 December 1966 |
| Date | 01 December 1966 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296601900432 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
755
Public
Policy,
Volume
XIV.
Edited
by
JOHN
D.
MONTGOMERY
and
ARTHUR
SMITHIES.
(Cambridge:
Harvard
University
Press,
1965.
Pp.
455.)
Public
Policy,
Volume
XIV,
is
the
most
recent
yearbook
in
the
series
published
by
the
Graduate
School
of
Public
Administration
at
Harvard
University.
The
first
twelve
volumes
in
this
distinguished
series
were
edited
by
C.
J.
Friedrich
in
associa-
tion
with
various
colleagues.
Volume
XIII
and
the
present
volume
have
been
edited
by
John
D.
Montgomery
and
Arthur
Smithies.
The
purpose
of
the
series
was
explained
by
Edward
S.
Mason
in
his
Foreword
to
Volume
XIII:
One
of
the
main
purposes
of
Public
Policy
has
been
to
show
something
of
the
work
carried
on
at
the
School.
This
work
is
largely
organized
around
seminars
on
significant
issues
of
public
policy.
The
participants
are
the
teachers,
the
students
and
frequent
visitors
from
Washington,
from
State
Capitols,
and
elsewhere.
This
participation
is
reflected
in
the
char-
acter
of
the
volumes
here
under
review.
About
a
third
of
the
contributors
are
from
the
Harvard
Faculty;
another
third
represents
the
development
of
student
papers
presented
in
seminars;
and
the
remainder
are,
principally,
contributions
from
government
officials
tempo-
rarily
in
residence
in
Cambridge....
Public
Policy
has
been,
and
after
some
twenty
years
continues
to
be,
one
of
the
very
few
publications
devoted
to
the
scholarly
examination
of
public
affairs
and
the
application
of
social
science
to
questions
of
public
policy.
Over
the
years,
the
series,
while
cancemtra,ting
on
national
issues,
has
dealt
with
the
major
policy
issues
confronting
the
country.
There
have,
for
example,
been
significant
papers
from
seminars
on
the
regulatory
process,
fiscal
policy,
industrial
organization
and
anti-
trust
policy,
comparative
politics,
agricultural
policy,
international
trade
and
commercial
policy,
political
and
economic
development,
defense
policy,
and
science
and
public
policy.
The
present
volume,
Volume
XIV,
is
similar
in
many
respects
to
the
pre-
ceding
ones.
It
is
made
up
of
eighteen
papers
grouped
under
four
headings:
Politics
and
Foreign
Policies,
Problems
of
Planning,
Policies
and
Decisions,
and
Applications
of
Federalism.
As
in
the
past,
the
papers
vary
widely
in
assumptions,
method,
tone,
style,
and
readability.
The
papers
all
have
elements
of
interest
but
several
reserve
special
comment.
In
the
section
on
Politics
and
Foreign
Policies
Randell
B.
Ripley
writes
insight-
fully
on
congressional
committee
relationships
in
&dquo;Congressional
Government
and
Committee
Management&dquo;;
Leroy
N.
Rieselbach
skillfully
tests
the
responsible
parties
argument
in
the
congressional
setting
in
&dquo;Congressional
Ideology,
The
Vote
on
Foreign
Policy,
and
the
Prospects
for
Party
Realignment&dquo;;
and
Abraham
F.
Lowenthal
explores
the
American
use
of
foreign
aid
to
influence
political
action
in
the
Dominican
Republic
in
&dquo;Foreign
Aid
as
a
Political
Instrument,
the
Case
of
the
Dominican
Republic.&dquo;
The
papers
on
Policies
and
Decisions
are
particularly
interesting.
Peter
Goure-
vitch
in
&dquo;Political
Skill:
A
Case
Study&dquo;
develops
a
paradigm
of
political
skill
and
evaluates
the
premiership
of
Pierre
Mend~s-France.
George
Berkley
illustrates
the
use
of
a
decision-making
technique
in
&dquo;Municipal
Garages
in
Boston:
A
Cost-
Benefit
Analysis.&dquo;
Finally,
George
D.
Blackwood
provocatively
examines
the
civil
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