Book Reviews : The Foundations of Political Analysis: Empirical and Normative. By EUGENE J. MEEHAN. (Homewood: The Dorsey Press, 1971. Pp. 274. $7.50.)

• Author: N. Patrick Peritore
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297102400418
• Published date: 01 December 1971
• Date: 01 December 1971

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virtues of a non-doctrinal, two-party system; the complex nature of representa-
tion, access and accountability; and the benefits of a &dquo;living constitution.&dquo; He
describes the necessary existence of government, the unavoidable need for leaders,
the non-conspiratorial nature of special interests and the beneficial effects of com-
promise in a sensible and disarming manner. The essays are designed to deflate
&dquo;our expectations concerning the processes of democracy without simultaneously
deflating the appeal that the highest democratic goals have long had for the minds
of men.&dquo; This is done by presenting the massive characteristics of the democratic
experience in terms of peaceful evolution, hard work, and a healthy recognition of
political limits rather than violent revolution, instant success, and a utopian vision
of supra political expectations. Fluno offers good reasons why the nature of that
democratic experience should not be altered now. How persuasive these reasons will
be is another...