Book Reviews : The Congressional Party: A Case Study. By DAVID B. TRUMAN. (New York: Wiley & Sons, 1959. Pp. ix, 336. $7.50.)

AuthorLester G. Seligman
Published date01 September 1960
Date01 September 1960
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/106591296001300351
Subject MatterArticles
841
The
Liberal
Party
in
Alberta
:
A
History
of
Politics
in
the
Province
of
Alberta,
1905-1921.
Social
Credit
in
Alberta,
Volume
8.
By
L.
G.
THOMAS.
(Toronto:
University
of
Toronto
Press,
1959.
Pp.
xii,
230.
$5.50.)
This
is
another
in
the
series
tracing
the
background
and
development
of
Social
Credit
in
Alberta.
In
Canada
there
has
long
been
a
tendency
for
his-
torians
to
concentrate
their
attention
on
splinter
parties
or
protest
movements
of
a
given
region
or
economic
group
while
the
great
national
parties
have
received
scant
consideration.
Mr.
Thomas
corrects
this
situation
as
far
as
the
province
of
Alberta
is
concerned,
for
not
only
does
he
give
a
careful
appraisal
of
the
sixteen
years
of
Liberal
stewardship
but
he
examines
as
well
the
futile
efforts
of
the
Conservative
party
to
attain
a
position
of
strength
in
the
province.
Thanks
largely
to
a
thoroughly
partisan
and
helpful
Dominion
Government
which
set
its
party
in
the
seats
of
office
when
the
province
was
created
in
1905,
the
Liberals
of
Alberta
started
with
all
the
advantages
and
despite
their
own
fumblings
were
able
to
win
the
first
four
elections
held
in
the
province.
But,
as
Thomas
points
out,
the
Alberta
Liberal
party
was
something
different
from
its
counterpart
in
the
older
and
longer
established
provinces
to
the
east.
On
railway
matters,
in
particular,
the
party
revealed
a
definite
lack
of
solidarity
and
as
or-
ganized
pressure
groups
developed
the
Government
seemed
more
and
more
ready
to
abdicate
its
responsibility,
so
that
the
United
Farmers
Organization
had
achieved
power
in
the
province
long
before
it
took
office
as
the
result
of
the
1921
election.
The
abdication
of
legislative
responsibility
and
the
readiness
to
accept
the
initiative
and
referendum,
along
with
the
prevailing
sentiment
that
nonpartisanship
was
in
some
way
a
positive
good,
were
significant
earmarks
of
a
political
society
in
which
the
old
two-party
system
found
it
difficult
to
function.
Although
the
writer
gives
an
interesting
and
well-documented
account
of
the
major
political
events
in
the
first
sixteen
years
of
Alberta
history
one
might
have
wished
greater
illumination
on
the
personalities
involved.
We
get
but
fleeting
glimpses
of
the
principal
characters.
Perhaps
this
is
inevitable
for
a
taciturn
and
colorless
man
like
Sifton
who
appeared
to
be
simply
a
man
of
mystery
and
power;
but
one
would
like
to
have
more
information
on
the
other
men
who
molded
or
were
molded
by
the
events.
But
Thomas’
work
is
nevertheless
a
most
valuable
one
and
presents
a
reasoned
and
reasonable
explanation
of
the
preliminary
stages
in
a
political
development
which
has
made
Alberta
unique
among
the
Canadian
provinces.
HEATH
MACQUARRIE
Ottawa,
Ontario
The
Congressional
Party
:
A
Case
Study.
By
DAVID
B.
TRUMAN.
(New
York:
Wiley
&
Sons,
1959.
Pp.
ix,
336.
$7.50.)
David
Truman’s
Congressional
Party
is
an
insightful
study
of
the
structure
of
political
parties
in
Congress.
This
work
is
the
product
of
extensive
research
on
Congressional
voting
patterns
during
1949-50.
Its
principal
concern
is
with
analyzing
the
legislative
parties
in
the
House and
Senate
and
particularly
the

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