Book Reviews : The Texas Political System. By DAN NIMMO and WILLIAM E. ODEN. (Englewood Cliffs : Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971. Pp. 166. $5.95.)

• Date: 01 December 1971
• Published date: 01 December 1971
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297102400422
• Subject Matter: Articles

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understand that in &dquo;Western State&dquo; the medics, who were the most visible force
in behalf of reform at the outset, dissipated thoroughly by the end. The author
does not pursue the causes.
O’Neill attemps to place his case study into an appropriate theoretical con-
text, but I should think he would have been more successful had he attempted his
theoretical linkages at a more modest level. For example, the first chapter discusses
the systems model of political activity with a focus on input functions, but then
there is virtually no mention of that perspective again, except for occasional refer-
ences to Catholic &dquo;demands.&dquo; On
the other hand, there are no attemped theoretical
or conceptual linkages to the literature on interest groups or lobbying, even though
the study produced several findings useful to that kind of middle-range theory.
This reviewer enjoyed reading both books, but I suspect that in each case the
utility to other scholars will be confined essentially to those who are interested in
the politics or history of Montana and &dquo;Western State&dquo; respectively.
LAWRENCE K. PETTIT
Montana State University
The Texas Political System. By DAN NIMMO and WILLIAM E. ODEN. (Englewood
Cliffs : Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971. Pp. 166. $5.95.)
In this small volume the authors examine the Texas political system. While
there are numerous textbooks of variable quality on Texas politics, the unique
feature of this one is that a &dquo;systems&dquo; approach is employed throughout as a
means to organize the substantive discussion. Many of the major conceptual cate-
gories of systems theory are present (usually presented in individual chapters) .
After a brief but adequate introductory chapter designed to introduce the student
to the language and conceptual apparatus of a systems approach, the socioeconomic
and constitutional &dquo;environment&dquo; of Texas is described (with appropriate refer-
ences to the other American states). In the following...