Book Reviews : The Private Member of Parliament and the Formation of Public Policy: A New Zealand Case Study. By ROBERT N. KELSON. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1964. Pp. viii, 164. $4.75.)
| Date | 01 December 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296401700447 |
| Published date | 01 December 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
836
of
the
party)
and
difficult
(when
the
two
interests
clash).
Thus,
the
crux
of
the
problem
for
the
Soviet
historian
today
seems
to
be
not
how
much
freedom
exists
for
the
individual
to
express
his
personal
opinions,
as
distinct
from
those
of
the
CPSU,
but
rather
&dquo;to
what
extent
can
he
maintain
a
private
sphere
of
thought
and
action,
providing
some
relief
from
the
powerful
pressures
brought
to
bear
by
the
party?&dquo;
Since
Communist
ideology
is
in
a
greater
flux
today
(because
of
its
transition
to
Khrushchevism)
than
it
was
before
1953,
party
demand
for
new
historical
evidence
has
been
steadily
growing.
Thus
there
is
more
risk-taking
involved
by
the
Soviet
his-
torian
engaged
in
the
matching
game
of
myth
and
reality
under
Khrushchev
than
there
was
under
Stalin.
The
risk
today
is
not
equated
with
fear
of
physical
liquida-
tion
(which
under
Stalin
led
to
sterility,
stagnation,
and
uniformity),
but
with
fear
of
humiliation
and
social
degradation
(which,
indeed,
permits
more
private
initiative
and
divergency).
Hence,
historians
&dquo;who
wish
to
rise
and
prosper
in
the
Soviet
his-
torical
firmament
must
not
only
learn
to
serve
the
powers
that
be,
but
must
also
de-
velop
a
keen
sense
of
the
direction
of
impending
change
and
be
able
to
gauge
its
limits
as
well
as
the
potentialities
it
unfolds.&dquo;
It
is
therefore
possible
that
yesterday’s
heroes
may
become
not
tomorrow’s
villains,
but
champions
of
the
new
order.
Success
or
failure
would
greatly
depend
on
whether
or
not
Soviet
historians
were
able
to
catch
the
tune
of
the
new
Kremlin
trumpet-blowers.
If
anything
is
evident
from
this
symposium,
it is
the
testimony
that
present
Soviet
ideology
is
not
a
static
but
flexible
controlling
device
of
the
power
monopoly
of
the
Soviet
state.
As
such
it
plays
a
significant
role in
the
political
mechanism
enabling
the
ruling
elite
to
exercise
power
with
greater
efficiency,
that
is,
permeating
more
positive
than
negative
decisions
in
the
state
than
under
Stalin.
In
this
sense,
then,
it
is
possible
to
view
the
approaching
end
of
Stalinist
ideology
but
never
ideology
as
a
controlling
device
of
the
Soviet
society.
Therefore,
the
use
of
ideology
as
a
variable
for
measuring
change
in
Soviet
society
through
historical
approach
will
necessarily
result
in
the
shortcomings
of
accurate
gauging
of
Soviet
politics.
Yet,
this
book
offers
information
that
historians
and
indeed
social
scientists
must
consider
a
great
contribution
to
the
knowledge
of
Soviet
affairs..
PETER
A.
TOMA
University
of
Arizona
The
Private
Member
of
Parliament
and
the
Formation
of
Public
Policy:
A
New
Zealand
Case
Study.
By
ROBERT
N.
KELSON.
(Toronto:
University
of
Toronto
Press,
1964.
Pp.
viii,
164.
$4.75.)
The
title
of
this
book
might
lead
one
to
expect
a
treatment
of
the
New
Zealand
private
member
similar
to
that
given
the
British
member
of
parliament
in
Peter
G.
Richards’
Honourable
Members
or,
perhaps,
to
Charles
Clapp’s
synthesis
of
the
views
of
United
States
representatives
in
The
Congressman.
The
Kelson
study
is
closer
in
research
design
and
methodology
to
the
Richards
book.
Still,
there
are
important
differences.
While
both
works
deal
with
the
role
of
the
backbencher
in
parliamentary
systems
as
observed
in
the
mid-1950’s,
the
Kelson
study
is
more
con-
cerned
with
introducing
his
readers
to
the
formal
machinery
of
the
government
and
the
political
setting
of
the
country.
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