500 Reviews

The number and variety of publications in the field of American history is incredible, and it is hard for bibliographic tools to maintain their currency. The item under review concentrates just on reference books, and contains many more U.S. history sources than Sheehy’s Guide to Reference Books (entry no. 23). There are 947 numbered major entries, and 421 of them appear in Chapter 5, “Social, Cultural, and Intellectual History.” Chapter 1 covers the general history sources, while the other chapters cover separate topics and issues. The lengthy and well-written annotations frequently include brief citations to other related materials. International Standard Book Numbers appear only for the major entries, and there are no Library of Congress card numbers. While including some of the old standard sources (such as Joseph Sabin’s Bibliotheca Americana, entry 41), the compilers have focused their attention more on titles produced since 1970, which might not necessarily show up in other bibliographies (especially those items from the 1980s and 1990s). Microforms and electronic information sources (online and CD-ROM) are also included. The end of American involvement in Vietnam (1975) was used as the cutoff date of an item’s subject content, in order to maintain an historical perspective.

Naturally there are entries for important government publications and other titles of interest to document librarians scattered throughout the book (such as the United States Department of Labor Library Catalog, entry 930). Many more relevant titles will be found within the various bibliographies listed here. The sections that have the most entries for documents are those covering “Statistical and Demographic Sources,” and “Government Publications” (both in Chapter 1), “Politics and Government” (Chapter 2), and “Military History” (Chapter 4). One extremely minor criticism is the inclusion of GPO stock numbers in the bibliographic citations for U.S. government publications. While this can be helpful to those ordering such titles, most readers will not understand their significance. The addition of Superintendent of Documents call numbers would seem to be much more useful to a wider audience, both to the public and librarians. Readers could then immediately check a depository collection’s shelflist to see if the title is checked in or even bypass this step and dive directly into the stacks. Another quibble is that there would seem to be call for entries to guides to the government publications of Canada, France, Spain, and especially Great Britain, since these countries could certainly be considered as perhaps the most important foreign actors or influences in American history. As such, their official documents are valuable for research into American history, certainly for the early periods, and citations to the appropriate reference tools would be useful.

A “List of Abbreviations and Symbols” appears at the front of the book. The volume concludes with separate author/title and subject indexes that reference the individual entry numbers of the items, not the page numbers. Blazek is a professor at Florida State University, and Perrauh is the former Humanities Bibliographer at Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge. They and their assistants are to be congratulated on producing a very useful title. It is strongly recommended for the general reference and circulating collections of all public and academic libraries, and it would not be a bad idea if it was purchased for personal collections as well.

DANIEL K. BLEWETT The Elizabeth M. Cudahy Memorial Library

Loyola University of Chicago 6525 North Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626

USA

New Perspectives on American Politics. Edited by Lawrence C. Dodd and Calvin Jillson. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1994. 370~. ISBN O-87187-882-8 (paperback). $37.95 (hardcover), $25.95 pbk).

New Perspectives on American Politics is a highly recommended collection of 17 original essays by leading political scientists organized to facilitate discussion and analysis of the changing political environment of previous decades and its evolution through the 1990s. After 12 years of Reagan- Bush, the “end” of the cold war, and the prolonged period of hostility toward politicians and government activists, what is the state of American politics? How have the trends and changes in the political climate lead to the election of Bill Clinton’? All of the essays offer insight into these dramatic changes in the political world which occurred during the 1980s and early 1990s as well as a broad historical analysis of American political patterns.

Reviews 501

The book begins with a forward by Nelson W. Polsby, a professor of political science and director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Polsby sets the tone for the following essays with an overview of important policy and constitutional outcomes since 1940 including civil rights, the welfare state, the status of women and family, and the homogeni- zation of the south. Changing relationships between political leaders and followers are also addressed as a factor in the overall evolution of present politics. Polsby ends his forward by stating that in a simplified review of the American political system over the last half century, three causes of political change can be identified: (1) expanding technology, which allows for change in the ways people communicate, work, and improve living conditions; (2) changing demographics, family structures, and the logistical aspects of moving goods and services; and (3) institutional response and adaptation to the effects of war on political attitudes and methods.

The first essay by Dodd and Jillson serves as an introduction to the overall theme of the compila- tion-political change. The authors state the purpose of the book is “to identify the recurring factors and distinctive conditions likely to reshape contemporary politics and consider their implications for the immediate future of American politics” (p. 1). A brief overview of each of the essays is presented as is the organization of the writings.

The essays are arranged into five parts or themes: (1) the politics of social conduct; (2) issues, candidates, and elections; (3) institutional politics and political change; (4) ideas, agendas, and policy change; and (5) conclusions. Each essay is followed by notes and a bibliography. An index at the end of the book offers easy subject, title, and name access with cross-references for browsing.

Part One consists of three essays dealing with group conflict in American politics in terms of class, race, and gender. The first essay by John F. Manley addresses the inherent nature of group conflict in the American political process. In fact, such conflict proved to be the major concern of the Founding Fathers when drafting the Constitution. The author postulates that group conflict has remained an important factor in politics well into the Reagan-Bush era and beyond. It is implied that it is this disparity that led to the election of Bill Clinton.

Rodney Hero’s essay “Two-Tiered Pluralism: Race and Ethnicity in American Politic” theorizes that pluralism is a necessary evil in the political process; the pluralism that exists is two-tiered. In this model of pluralism, two tiers exist in society, one for the dominant society and a separate tier for minority groups. While formal and legal equality exist between these two groups, political practices undercut the equality for the nondominant groups.

Eileen McDonagh takes a different view of group conflict in politics. In the third essay, McDonagh says neither race nor class represent group disparity in politics; but that gender is the great un- equalizer.

“Part Two: Issues, Candidates, and Elections” revolves around the question of elitism in terms of political catering. Do politicians cater to the elite or do they, in fact, stray toward public opinion on the campaign trail? The three essay contributors in the section agree it is the elite who control and construct the electorate; but on the question as to which elites, they do not agree. The first two essays by Edward G. Carmines and Walter J. Stone. respectively reflect the thought that it is the party elite who control the agendas. The third essay by Thomas Ferguson contends that it is not the political elite, but the economic elite who construct agendas and issues.

The third part, “Institutional Politics and Political Change,” follows the theme that “institutions often foster change by inhibiting it” (p. 7). This theme rings particularly loud in Bert Rockman’s writing. Rockman says that theoretically, it is conflict between groups that drives the political system and the electoral process along with maintstream politics to serve as the outlets where such conflicts can be resolved and policies changed. However, it is often through the process of developing policies that result from such institutions that the resolution of conflict is inhibited and deadlock created.

Sean Kelly’s essay contends that when “a strong party has a strong mandate to enact policies, policy change can occur” (p. 7). Kelly suggests that it is the divided party government that curbs political change in contemporary politics. The third essay by Paul J. Quirk and Bruce Nesmith echoes Kelly’s theory that it is a strong party and institutional activism that bring about change. This theory is illustrated with an examination of the Bush presidency, specifically deficit-reduction policies and gridlock.

The theme of Part Four is the central role of policy agendas in American politics. The four essays in this section attempt to discuss the effect of national attention on central policy turns and institution and public policy responses. National and state policy making are examined historically and in contemporary times to address why some policy movements succeed or fail.

John Kingdon opens this section with the argument that change in policy agendas is an evolutionary process and that agendas are brought to the forefront when windows of opportunity present them-

SO2 Reviews

selves to the politicians. Virginia Gray’s essay suggests that this evolution can occur at both the national and state level; innovative policies that are conducive to policy change and experimentation often emerge in states. Such modernizations are then adopted by other states and the federal government. In the following essay, Jon McIver, Gerald Wright, and Robert Erikson contend that the transmission of policy innovations often depends on the ideological orientation of state politics. National polls are used by the authors to examine the relationship between public opinion and policy outcomes. The fourth article by Theda Skocpol discusses the success of policies nationally with a contemporary and historical look at the welfare system.

The final section is titled “Conclusions.” Three essays are presented to draw together the preceding themes and pose questions about the changes in political patterns to come. Of special interest is the writing by Linda Fowler who examines the effect of “political entrepreneurs” like Bill Clinton in the natural evolution of the changing dynamics of American politics. The final two contributions, by Martin Shefter and David Mayhew, respectively, examine what forces will likely bring new trends to American politics.

Overall, this collection of essays is an excellent representation of new thoughts in political science. The compilation is unique in the diversity of insights offered concerning the changing political climate in the United States. This book is recommended for university libraries and for students of political science or anyone interested in the state of politics today in the United States. New Perspectives on American Politics is a timely resource for understanding the changing face of politics.

LISA PILLOW Emory University

Robert W. Woodruff Library Atlanta, GA 30322

BOOKS AND OTHER ITEMS RECEIVED

Classijied Information: Costs of Protection are Integrated with Other Security Costs. Washington DC: U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994. GAO/NSIAD-94-55.

Communications Privacy: Federal Policy and Actions. Washington DC: U.S. General

Accounting Office, 1994. GAO/OSI-94-2.

Community Power in a Postreform City: Politics in New York. By Robert F. Pecorella. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1994. ISBN: 1-56324-136-6. $54.00.

Earth Summit CD-ROM. New York: United Nations Publications, 1994. 1 CD-ROM plus technical documentation. $495.00.

Federal Legislative Histories: An Annotated Bibliography and Index to Ofjcially Published Sources. By Bernard D. Reams Jr. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing CO., 1194.624~. ISBN: o-313-23092-7. $99.50.

National Archives: A More Systematic Customer Focus Needed. Washington DC: U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994. GAO/GGD-94-3.

Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy. By Cornelius M. Kerwin. Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1994. ISBN: O-87187-993-x. $32.95.

Statistical Handbook on Aging Americans. Second Edition. By Frank L. Schick and Renee Schick. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1994. ISBN: O-89774-721-6. $54.50.