Book Reviews : The Democratic Community, Governmental Practice and Purposes. By ROBERT Y. FLUNO. (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1971. Pp. xxii, 235. $3.95.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591297102400417
• Date: 01 December 1971
• Published date: 01 December 1971
• Subject Matter: Articles

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How much of an effect the political scientist does or can have is very unclear, for
Beam’s own response to professional irrelevance illustrates again the limitations
that the discipline places upon his own formulations. The conceptual alternative
to bogus scientific neutrality turns out to be that old chestnut, the comparative
method (with a special emphasis on comparing institutional structures). While it
may be argued that the comparative method may be less prone to ideological
determinism, this is surely a very weak remedy in light of the deep penetration of
the dominant pluralist ideology. Indeed, it is possible to imagine the pluralist status
quo emerging just as easily from a comparative study of institutional arrangements
as from a dissection of political processes.
My observations are not intended to belittle Beam’s work. His plight is shared
by all who operate within the discipline. Like other concerned political scientists,
Beam is justified in being outraged at the depravities of his society. And like
many of his colleagues he is unable to find in political science a means for giving
his outrage intellectual direction. At best he can criticize his discipline but, in so
doing, he remains controlled by the logical and even the ideological imperatives
that control the discipline itself.
MASON DRUKMAN
Portland, Oregon
The Democratic Community, Governmental Practice and Purposes. By ROBERT Y.
FLUNO. (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1971. Pp. xxii, 235. $3.95.)
Fluno’s purpose is to provide a down-to-earth account of &dquo;the nature of the
democratic experience.&dquo; To this end deliberate emphasis is placed on a pragmatic
treatment of the formal and informal structures and processes of contemporary
democracies, particularly American democracy, rather than on a theoretical con-
sideration of the purposes or goals of democracy. Fluno does recognize that re-
flection on the &dquo;idea of democracy&dquo; is an indispenable prerequisite for practical
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