Book Reviews : Essays presented to Sir William Namier. Edited by RICHARD PARES and A. J. P. Taylor. (London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd; New York: St. Martin's Press. 1956. Pp. viii, 542. $10.00.)
W. H. Dalgliesh
Dec 1, 1958
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Political Research Quarterly
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basis for classification purposes. These relations are exhausted in &dquo;unition,&dquo; &dquo;reciprocity,&dquo; and &dquo;work-association&dquo; each of which has a corresponding negative side in &dquo;exclusion,&dquo; &dquo;aggressive selfishness,&dquo; and &dquo;relations of divergence.&dquo; What the author does with these classificatory and descriptive terms to analyze the range and types of human relations in Part One of his book is worth the reading. Probably Parts Two and Three will most interest political scientists. Here one comes upon an analysis of power in the social spheres, including treatment of terms like &dquo;authority&dquo; and &dquo;coercion&dquo; and an analysis of aspects of statutory and administrative power. &dquo;Freedom&dquo; and &dquo;majority&dquo; (in relation to basic social relations) also receive thorough attention. Chapter xxxix (&dquo;Purposes of the State: There Is No Ideal State&dquo;) deserves careful reading by theorists, as does Appendix VI, though brief (&dquo;International Organization and World Government&dquo;), in a half-dozen pages saying wise and necessary things. The second division of Part Three on political matters also contains interesting treatments of forms of political power. Dr. MuellerDeham obviously thought long and hard about the problems he discusses, and he shows how an active mind must &dquo;work over&dquo; the empirical materials of social relations and power if any interpretive advances are to occur. Anyone interested in reasoned reflections on power, politics, and social relations should consult Dr. Mueller-Deham’s book. If he is suspicious about claims for the possibility of a general sociological theory that could do something for men not now available in competing theories, he can concentrate on the portions of the book closest to his interests. The book is packed with worthwhile observations and suggestive classifications.