Book Reviews : The Politics of Progress. By RAYMOND E. WOLFINGER. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974. Pp. xii, 416. $10.95.)

• Author: John J. Hebal
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297502800120
• Published date: 01 March 1975
• Date: 01 March 1975
• Subject Matter: Articles

210

Shaffer

proceeds

to

treat

his

simulation

results

as

if

they

had

been

predicated

on

precise

measurements.

One

can

only

wish

that

he

had

followed

through

with

his

recognition

of

possible

error

by

providing

confidence

estimates

for

the

voting

pre-

dictions

that

emerged

from

the

simulation.

Despite

its

flaws,

Computer

Simulations

of

Voting

Behavior

deserves

to

be

read

by

students

of

political

behavior.

Shaffer’s

creative

approach

to

the

empirical

eval-

uation

of

voting

theory

should

not

be

overlooked.

If

the

work

suffers

in

its

specific

content

it

is

to

be

commended

for

its

methodological

approach.

Shaffer

shows

that

there

is

alternative

methodology

to

the

conventional

reliance

on

statistical

tests

which

require

strong

(and

in

many

instances

unwarranted)

assumptions

concerning

the

data

being

analyzed.

Moreover,

his

macroscopic

approach

of

modeling

whole

theoretical

systems

has

distinct

advantages

over

the

more

common

practice

of

serially

testing

specific

propositions

deduced

from

complex

theories.

And,

perhaps

most

importantly,

he

adheres

to

the

widely

recognized

but

often

violated

principle

that

data

analysis

should

be

directed

by

theory

rather

than

vice

versa.

Colorado

State

University

G.

WAYNE

PEAK

The

Politics

of

Progress.

By

RAYMOND

E.

WOLFINGER.

(Englewood

Cliffs,

N.J.:

Prentice-Hall,

Inc.,

1974.

Pp.

xii,

416.

$10.95.)

Beyond

its

contributions

to

the

literature

on

New

Haven

under

Mayor

Rich-

ard

C.

Lee,

focusing

on

the

notable

redevelopment

program

carried

out

during

his

sixteen-year

administration,

Wolfinger

reaches

a

more

general

conclusion :

that

the

manager

plan

is

a

better

vehicle

for

urban

progress

than

the

strong

mayor

system,

because

of

the

relatively

short

tenure

(said

to

average

four

years)

of

mayors.

The

Politics

of

Progress

recounts

in

abundant

detail

the

means

by

which

a

mayor

of

unusual

tenure

and

vision,

as

well

as

ambition,

achieved

the

nation’s

best

known

urban

renewal

program,

including

much

of

downtown

New

Haven.

A

unique

blend

of

exceptionally

able

professional

staff,

Lee’s

talent

for

cajoling

support

from

Republican

businessmen,

and

maintaining

influence

over

the

Demo-

cratic

party

organization

through

which

he

mobilized

the

electorate

every

two

years,

contrasts

with

the

great

number

of

American

cities,

especially

in

the

West,

which

are

nonpartisan,

council-manager

systems.

From

the

corner

of

the

mayor’s

private

offices,

as

well

as

assisting

Edward

J.

Logue,

the

development

administrator,

Wolfinger

was

a

close

observer

of

New

Haven

redevelopment

politics

from

July

1958

into

mid-1959,

in

his

capacity

as

a

research

assistant

to

Robert

A.

Dahl,

whose

Who

Governs?

(1961)

ranks

among

the

most

significant

contributions

to

the

power

structure

literature.

It

was

this

unusual

access

which

delayed

publication

of

Wolfinger’s

dissertation

in

this

revised

form

until

Mayor

Lee

left

office,

because

of

his

strong

objections

to

some

parts

of

the

manuscript.

The

politics

of

New

Haven

are

characterized

as

highly

ethnic

in

character.

It

is

also

&dquo;machine&dquo;

and

patronage

politics,

although

Lee

saw

to

it

that

only

routine