Book Reviews : The Lawmakers: Recruitment and Adaptation to Legislative Life. By JAMES DAVID BARBER. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965. Pp. xi, 314. $7.50.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296601900113 |
| Published date | 01 March 1966 |
| Date | 01 March 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
150
BOOK
REVIEWS
The
Lawmakers:
Recruitment
and
Adaptation
to
Legislative
Life.
By
JAMES
DAVID
BARBER.
(New
Haven:
Yale
University
Press,
1965.
Pp.
xi,
314.
$7.50.)
It
is
rare
to
review
a
book
of
such
outstanding
quality
as
The
Lawmakers.
There
is
virtually
nothing
of
a
negative
nature
than
can
be
said
about
it.
Professor
Barber
has
provided
us
with
a
book
which
is
clearly
one
of
the
most
significant
studies
of
American
politics
written
since
the
advent
of
behavioral
studies
in
political
science.
Even
more
rare
is
to
discover
that
the
comments
on
the dust
jacket
reflect
one’s
own
evaluation
of
a
book.
For
instance,
I
cannot
improve
on
Donald
Matthew’s
language:
&dquo;The
Lawmakers
is
a
major
contribution
to
the
literature
on
political
recruitment
and
legislative
behavior.
Barber’s
analysis
of
the
freshmen
members
of
the
Connecticut
House
of
Representatives
combines
political,
demographic,
and
motivational
factors
more
successfully
than
any
other
work
in
the
field.
The
fruitful
integration
of
these
perspectives
is
no
mean
accomplishment;
it
results
in
important
new
insights
on
legislative
behavior
and
politics.&dquo;
These
observations
come
from
a
scholar
who
in
his
book
U.S.
Senators
and
Their
World,
dealt
very
successfully
with
many
of
the
same
methodological
and
substantive
problems
which
confronted
Pro-
fessor
Barber.
Lest
anyone
think
that
either
Matthews
or
I
have
overstated
the
case
for
The
Lawmakers,
I
would
urge
him
to
read
the
first
chapter,
&dquo;Politics
as
Recruit-
ment.&dquo;
This
should
be
all
the
incentive
needed
to
read
the
rest
of
the
book.
Barber
sets
out
to
accomplish
a
great
deal
and
in
all
important
respects
gets
the
job
done.
As
John
C.
Wahlke
says
in
his
dust
jacket
comments:
&dquo;He
has
also
com-
bined
two
kinds
of
concern
to
an
extent
rare
in
this
field:
for
the
psychology
of
legis-
lators’
behavior
(the
roots
of
their
behavior
in
personality)
and
for
the
political
con-
sequences
and
implications
of
this
psychology.&dquo;
Barber
develops
a
typology
of
legislators
which
he
expresses
with
great
clarity
in
four
types
-
spectator,
advertiser,
reluctant,
and
lawmaker.
He
devotes
a
chapter
to
each
and
presents
three
short
&dquo;case
studies&dquo;
along
with
aggregate
material
on
the
entire
type.
All
four
types
are
characterized
and
analyzed
as
to
profiles,
nominations,
reactions,
self,
strategies,
and
work
of
the
legislature.
There
is
nothing
forced
about
these
categories.
Rather,
they
result
from
an
extensive
understanding
of
the
social,
political,
and
individual
personality
factors
at
work
in
specific
kinds
of
legislative
districts
and
the
state
legislature
in
general.
The
concluding
chapter,
&dquo;The
Development
of
Political
Personalities,&dquo;
will
not
be
a
disappointment
to
those
who
might
question
the
general
applicability
of
Barber’s
research
to
other
aspects
of
political
behavior
and
other
levels
of
government.
With-
out
making
a
self-conscious
effort
to
list
further
research
topics,
Barber
suggests
enough
hypotheses
to
keep
graduate
students
and
mature
scholars
busy
for
a
long
time
to
come.
Finally,
it
should
be
noted
that
the
author
does
not
shy
away
from
value
judg-
ments
when
they
seem
appropriate.
The
final
paragraph
of
the
book
is
illustrative
of
this
point.
&dquo;Democracy
bears
no
guarantee
that
the
best
will
choose
to
run.
Yet
we
have
often
acted
as
if
throwing
the
rascals
out
would
somehow
elevate
the
ex-
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