Book Reviews : Studying Politics Abroad: Field Research in the Developing Areas. By ROBERT E. WARD, FRANK BONILLA, JAMES S. COLEMAN, HERBERT H. HYMAN, LUCIAN W. PYE, and MYRON WEINER. (Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 1964. Pp. viii, 245. $2.50 paper.)
| Author | Harvey G. Kebschull |
| Published date | 01 March 1966 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296601900163 |
| Date | 01 March 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
207
between
constitutional
government
and
the
needs
of
the
emerging
&dquo;acquisitive
soci-
ety,&dquo;
including
the
difficulties
in
maintaining
such
a
regime.
Yet
this
is
only
one
relatively
minor
point
in
von
Stein’s
penetrating
analysis,
which
deals
with
the
same
phenomena
as
that
of
Marx,
is
almost
as
architectonic
and
comprehensive,
but
avoids
the
absolutes
that
were
the
marks
both
of
Marx’
genius
and
his
greatest
weakness.
Even
his
most
evident
failure
to
eliminate
a
conflict
if
not
contradiction
in
his
theory
of
the
state,
considering
it
both
a
product
of
social
conflict
and
an
instrument
of
class
domination
and
as
a
power
standing
above
such
social
interests,
reveals
a
political
problem
no
less
intractable
today
than
then,
and
to
which
proposed
reso-
lutions,
whether
Marxist,
liberal,
or
conservative,
are
now
rather
obviously
more
apparent
than
real.
The
principal
virtue
of
this
work
to
me
is
that
in
a
clearsighted
and
informed
way
it
posed
the
major
problem
of
late
modern
political
life,
which
is
how
to
ensure
that
liberal
values
can
be
truly
enjoyed
by
all
the
people
and
democ-
racy
not
be
stifled
because
of
irreducible
social
conflicts.
He
was
fully
aware
of
how
feeble
were
all
the
attempts
of
his
day
to
answer
that
problem.
I
do
not
think
that
we
are
so
far
along
that
we
cannot
learn
much
from
the
research
and
thought
that
went
into
this
book.
I
regret
only
that
the
editor
chose
to
eliminate
substantial
sections
containing
von
Stein’s
discussion
of
the
ideas
of
Saint-Simon,
Fourier,
Cabet,
Proud-
hon,
and
others,
since
this
leaves
the
treatment
of
socialism
excessively
abstract.
But
it
is
very
good
to
have
such
of
the
work
as
is
here
made
available.
University
of
Washington
WILLIAM
H.
HARBOLD
Studying
Politics
Abroad:
Field
Research
in
the
Developing
Areas.
By
ROBERT
E.
WARD,
FRANK
BONILLA,
JAMES
S.
COLEMAN,
HERBERT
H.
HYMAN, LUCIAN
W.
PYE,
and
MYRON
WEINER.
(Boston
and
Toronto:
Little,
Brown
and
Company,
1964.
Pp. viii, 245.
$2.50
paper.)
With
the
increasing
number
of
graduate
students
and
established
scholars
going
abroad
to
the
developing
areas
in
an
attempt
to
probe
the
mysteries
of
the
new
political
systems,
it
is
appropriate
that
an
effort
be
made
both
to
warn
the
naive
and
encourage
the
hesitant
and
fearful.
Studying
Politics
Abroad
is
intended
to
serve
as
a
guide
to
the
problems
of
field
research
in
the
developing
areas;
its
purpose
is
to
44communicate
some
sense
of
the
importance,
potentialities,
and
rewards
of
field
work
in
the
developing
societies
and
at
the
same
time
alert
interested
students
in
useful
fashion
to
some
of
the
pitfalls,
frustrations,
and
difficulties
commonly
encountered
in
the
course
of
such
work.&dquo;
The
use
of
this
book
should
result
in
a
more
efficient
utilization
of
the
time,
energies,
and
financial
resources
available
to
the
researcher.
As
general
background
information
on
the
common
and
uncommon
problems
confronting
the
researcher
in
the
developing
areas,
several
chapters
are
particularly
useful.
After
a
brief
Introduction
by
Robert
Ward,
Lucian
Pye
suggests
several
sub-
jects
for
analysis
in
his
chapter,
&dquo;Problems
for
Research.&dquo;
The
researcher
is
urged
to
direct
his
attention
to
the
basic
characteristics
of
many
of
the
developing
political
systems,
such
as
the
lack
of
consensus
on
the
ends
and
means
of
political
action,
the
ambivalence
of
attitudes,
the
gap
between
the
rulers
and
the
ruled,
and
the
config-
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