Book Reviews : The Ombudsman: Citizen's Defender. Edited by DONALD C. ROWAT. (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1965. Pp. 348, $8.25.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900151
• Date: 01 March 1966
• Published date: 01 March 1966
• Subject Matter: Articles

194
aroused African pressures for liberation and self-identity, the very discipline and
modernity introduced by the colonizers made possible the ultimate success of the
resentful Africans’ protests. The creation in 1953 of the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland -
which Africans saw as the last straw in oppression and the sign their
subjection was to be permanent - was, according to the author, who ignores the
elements of idealism in the undertaking, not only a fraudulent creed but the guar-
antee of eventual African sovereignty in the land of their fathers.
That it was the organization of heterogeneous peoples within artificially con-
trived boundaries which gave rise to feelings of national identity, as the author
states, seems open to question. The evidence presented suggests a deeper rule of
behavior: Men
who feel themselves degraded and humiliated will, in order to regain
their manhood, fight unto the third and fourth generations.
JOHN P. HOOVER
The Pan American Union
The Ombudsman: Citizen’s Defender. Edited by DONALD C. ROWAT. (London:
George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1965. Pp. 348, $8.25.)
The office of Ombudsman originated in Sweden in 1809 and subsequently
spread to neighboring countries. This legislative functionary is charged with the
responsibility to entertain, investigate, and where appropriate seek solutions to the
complaints of private citizens against improper operations of the bureaucracy. After
a long period of quiet and successful operation in Scandanavia, it became the object
of wider attention which resulted in its transplantation to West Germany in 1957
and to New Zealand in 1962. Since then a wide variety of proposals have been put
forward for its adoption elsewhere, including both Great Britain and the United
States. This more recent interest in the common law world constitutes a new chap-
ter in the continuing debate that has raged since the thirties over the control of
administrative discretion.
In considering the adaptability of...