Book Reviews : The Decline of American Pluralism. By HENRY S. KARIEL. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1961. Pp. xi, 339. $6.75.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296101400332 |
| Published date | 01 September 1961 |
| Author | John A. Schutz |
| Date | 01 September 1961 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
793
The
Decline
of
American
Pluralism.
By
HENRY
S.
KARIEL.
(Stanford:
Stanford
University
Press,
1961.
Pp.
xi,
339.
$6.75.)
This
is
a
significant
book
whose
subject
matter
is
not
immediately
apparent
from
its
title.
A
subtitle
like
&dquo;American
liberalism
in
crisis&dquo;
would
be
advisable,
for
the
author
has
analyzed
the
effect
of
institutions
like
the
corporation,
the
labor
union,
and
organized
agriculture
upon
our
representative
government,
and
concludes
that
private
power
has
expanded
gigantically
in
the
last
three
decades
and
now
threatens
to
overshadow
the
public
policy.
Using
outmoded
liberal
ideals,
these
vast
economic
forces
exercise
governmental
power
without
much
responsibility
to
the
nation.
The
first
step
in
remedying
this
situation,
the
author
believes,
would
be
in
the
formulation
of
a
social
theory
of
liberalism
that
will
make
a
new
approach
to
the
regulation
of
private
organizations
possible.
Mr.
Kariel
feels
that
the
development
of
a
pluralist
concept
of
public
re-
sponsibility
would
enable
government
to
ensure
liberal
principles
in
society.
He
would
have
government
enter
private
areas
of
power
and
provide
the
spark
of
criticism
and
competition
that
individuals
use
to
give
these
relations.
In
our
experimentation,
he
thinks,
we
shall
find
a
new
concept
of
community,
a
more
realistic
line
dividing
public
and
private
sectors
of
power,
and
a
more
functional
government
for
twentieth-century
democracy.
While
much
of
the
author’s
narrative
presents
analyses
of
weaknesses
in
our
society,
he
does
speculate
on
some
remedies
that
would
emancipate
public
power
from
the
dominance
of
private
institutions.
He
believes
a
shift
of
power
to
the President
and
the
political
parties
would
be
helpful -
but
he
wants
guarantees
for
a
loyal
opposi-
tion
that
would
keep
pluralism
in
politics.
Mr.
Kariel’s
close
argument
and
massive
evidence
makes
his
presentation
most
impressive,
and
one
wants
to
agree
with
him
that
a
reanalysis
of
the
liberal
creed
is
essential
if
we
are
to
obtain
the
benefits
of
our
democracy.
Those
who
like
to
speculate
on
the
strengths
and
weaknesses
of
American
institutions
will
find
much
evidence
to
ponder.
Can
liberalism
withstand
the
autocratic
ten-
dencies
of
corporate
power,
live
under
big
and
distant
government,
and
allow
for
the
inefficiencies
of
diverse
ideas
in
a
world
of
calculators?
The
solution,
Mr.
Kariel
suggests,
will
not
be
found
in
legislating
individual
freedom
by
cutting
away
government,
but
by
taking
a
hard
look
at
our
political
assumptions,
particu-
larly
in
the
way
governmental
power
is
used
in
regulating
our
private
institutions.
The
reforms
that
may
first
be
necessary
may
be
as
simple
(and
controversial)
as
freeing
our
press
from
corporate
control,
financing
the
campaign
expenditures
of
candidates
for
public
offices,
and
allowing
civil
servants
to
express
their
own
opinions.
In
his
evaluation
of
liberalism,
the
author
barely
mentions
the
changed
position
of
the
voter,
whose
burden
of
making
the
right
choice
is
greater
now
than
in
the
past.
No
longer
can
he
be
certain
of
the
ability
of
the
candidates,
with
their
speech
writers,
press
representatives,
and
publicity
men
determining
their
public
impression.
He
finds
himself
too
often
perplexed
by
false
issues,
insufficient
facts,
and
inadequate
ways
to
express
his
dissent.
If
liberalism
is
going
to
use
government
as
a
means
of
restoring
pluralism,
it
will
have
to
invent
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