Book Notes
| Published date | 01 September 1992 |
| Date | 01 September 1992 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1992.tb00713.x |
| Subject Matter | Book Notes |
Political Studies
(I
992).
XL,
597-656
Book
Notes
British Politics
Yonah Alexander and Alan O'Day (eds).
The Irish Terrorism Esperience
(Aldershot,
This edited collection on Northern Ireland covers an eclectic set of themes that purports
to
be neither
comprehensive nor definitive but includes aspects of the problem that have been hitherto rather
neglected. An example of the latter is McElroy's portrayal
of
the Catholic Church maintaining its
cohesiveness in the face of challenges that have split
it
elsewhere. a portrayal partly mirrored by
Morrow's depiction of the churches generally as 'passengers in a flow of events which they cannot
alter' (p.
188).
The underlying assumption. that the conflict is essentially one
of
opposing
nationalisms. is reflected in several other contributions: both MacDonald and Smyth, for example,
question whether the twin traditions can really be assuaged by simply ignoring their inherent mutual
antagonisms. By contrast, Bromley looks back and charts the remarkable cultural convergence
revealed in the local pressas a puritanical provincecame
to
terms with the'swingingsixties'. reflecting
a modestly modernizing consensus that
was
rudely shattered by the onset
of
communal conflict.
Dartmouth.
1991),
viii
+
219
pp.,
f30.00
ISBN
1
85521 210 2.
EDWARD MOXON-BROWNE
Univc~rsiry
of
Limerick
Michael
Billig,
Talking qftlie
Royd
Family
(London
and
New
York,
Routledge,
1992),
x
At a time when the monarchy is receiving more attention that
it
has in years, this might seem
to
be yet
another contribution
to
the growing literature about the operation of that institution. In fact, its title
notwithstanding, this is not a book about the Royal Family itself but about 'what ordinary English
families have
to
say about the Royal Family' (p.
2).
As
such it is likely to be
of
greater interest
to
students
of
social psychology than
to
students of politics.
The book is based
on
63
interviews with families living in the East Midlands. The author suggests
that his method
has
some advantages over the more familiar attitude survey: 'When one listens
closely to conversational talk. one goes beyond the broad. and rather coarsely depicted, patterns of
attitude surveys. in order to feel the textured intricacies of common-sensical thinking' (p.
19).
At
times one feels the comments of the interviewees are being overburdened by the weight of
interpretation put on them. Moreover, the method seems
to
lead
to
a certain amount of repetition.
Overall, however, the flavour of common-sense attitudes
to
the Royal Family comes through well.
R.
L.
BORTHWICK
University
of
Lcciester
+
244
pp..
f35.00
ISBN
0
415 06745 6, f12.99
pbk
ISBN
0
41
5
06746
4.
Leslie
Budd and Sam Whimster (eds),
Global Finance
und
Urban Living:
a
Study
qf'
Metropolitan Chunge
(London and New
York,
Routledge,
1992),
xiv
+
367
pp.,
f40.00
ISBN
0
415 07097
X,
f13.99
pbk
ISBN
0
415 03198 2.
When the
IRA
planted a bomb in the City of London in April
1992,
the target's symbolism was
obvious. An attack
on
the home of finance capital was another indicator that British politics has
0032-321 7/92/03/0597-60
0
1992
Politirul
Studies
598
Book Notes
departed from traditional signifiers of both factory gates and landed gentry. And as thiscollection of
15
chapters indicates, this is a complex story. From the perspectives of financial specialists, an
architect and academics representing economics, geography. politics and sociology, we learn how the
City exits both as a fiscal entity and as a metaphor for the New Britain. As Sam Whimster and Leslie
Budd indicate in their excellent introduction, we
see
there manifestations of both the local and the
global. The latter is not
so
surprising
-
we are accustomed now to the hypermobility ofcapital
-
but
the reassertion of the local is provocative. Drawing on a Braudellien analysis, the editors show how
the creation of a new financial class has been fought out within the metropolis itself (rather than in
some abstract zone of class struggle), and the chapters bring together everything from the mechanics
of the financial system to the struggles on the fringes of the City between Bangladeshis and
developers. A well-integrated volume. this book
will
be compulsory reading for academics and even
those students who have an eye on the glittering prizes of the ‘disestablishment’.
ANDREW KIRBY
Universit.v
of
Arizona
Charles Carstairs
and
Richard Ware (eds),
Parliament and International Relations
(Milton Keynes
and
Philadelphia, Open University Press,
1991).
xii
+
195
pp.,
€32.50
ISBN
0
335 09699 9, f12.99
pbk
ISBN
0
335 09698
0.
This is a meticulous and scholarly work which
fills
a gap
in
the systematic study of Parliament.
It
explores the responses at Westminster to recent changes in the climate of international relations, and
to the changing institutional context within which many aspects of British policy have to
be
conducted. It was completed before the European summit
in
Maastricht and
so
could not take
full
account of the extent to which European politial cooperation
is
now being carried forward in a
Community context. Yet the authors are clear that *the developments in Europe raise problems for
Parliament of a kind not
so
far encountered in its long history’.
The authors explain very clearly the formal and informal methods
of
parliamentary oversight
of
foreign affairs and emphasize that the lack of formal parliamentary involvement
in
treaty-making
distinguishes the British Parliament from most other national legislatures. They also demonstrate
that ministers and opposition spokesmen have to take account of anticipated parliamentary
reactions in foreign policy as in other spheres. Yet in seeking
to
influence European political
cooperation,
it
is clear that Westminster had better
look
to its laurels
or
else
the European Parliament
may gradually eclipse it.
F.
N. FORMAN
House
of
Coninions
lvor Crewe, Pippa Norris, David Denver and David Broughton (eds),
British Efections
and Parties Yearbook
I991
(Heme1 Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf,
1992).
viii
+
312
pp.,
f45.00
ISBN
0
7450 1124
I.
A PSA Specialist Group including many of the usual suspects
-
Crewe. Norris. Dunleavy, Newton,
Heath, Johnston and Whiteley
-
has produced an attractive and useful volume on recent academic
concerns in British electoral politics. The ten chapters cover methodology; the electoral system; the
power of the press; government popularity modelling; neighbourhood region and poll tax effects: and
Labour Party reform, including the roles of voters, party members, activists and women.
A well-researched reference section
of
100
pages contains
a
chronology ofevents and summaries of
1987-90
public opinion polls, by-elections, local elections, local by-elections and economic
indicators.
A
list of books (to
1990)
and journal articles (to 1989). plus officials and addresses
of
political parties, polling organizations, the mass media, political studies journals and the Specialist
Group completes this section.
The most theoretically provocative article is Dunleavy’s, which demonstrates developmentally
how far the electoral system now departs from Schumpeter’s idealized view
of
British two-party
competition. But with four editors and
22
authors for ten chapters. the general level of presentation is
remarkably high. DONLEY
T.
STUDLAR
Oklahoma
SIuti,
Univei-si/y
Book
Notes
599
David Edgerton,
Englmtl
und
the
Aeroplnne:
(in
Esscijx
on
N
Militant
rind
Technological
Nation
(Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1991).
xx
+
139
pp., f35.00
ISBN
0
333
55022
6,
f14.99 pbk ISBN
0
333
56921
0.
David Edgerton’s essay provides the most important con:ribution to the literature on Britain’s
relative economic decline since the publication
of
Correlli Barnett’s
The
AudIt
of
Wor.
Not only does
Edgerton reveal the weaknesses in Barnett’s conclusions concerning the allegedly poor productivity
of wartime aircraft production in Britain. he also challenges the thesis developed by Barnett and
fellow ‘declinists’ that the English elite has been and is composed of anti-scientific. anti-industrial,
anti-technocratic and anti-milittarkt wimps.
British decline should not be attributed
to
an over-extended ‘welfare state‘ that has been incapable
of understanding. still less supporting technology and industry, and therefore frustrated the creation
of a ‘developmental state’ devoted to industrial modernization. On the contrary. Edgerton’s
contention is that a British ‘warfare‘ state, guided by an idealogy of ‘liberal militarism’, has accorded
a remarkably high priority to technological development.
to
the extent of having supported civil
technologies on a scale more lavish than any other European nation.
The scientific. technological and industrial character of English grand strategy has been
overlooked by many ’declinists‘ because
of
their adherence to an implicit programme for
modernization. In Britain. as Edgerton concludes. ‘what technocrats cannot do is come to terms with
the failure
of
many of the programmes: that is why they
so
systematically ignore or misrepresent
them’ (p.
108).
SIMON LEE
Uitiversitj.
of
Hull
W.
R. Garside,
British C‘netnplojwierit
1919-1939:
(I
Study in Public Polic:,3
(Cambridge,
Through previous publications the author has established a reputation
in
the analysis of British
unemployment.
In
a way this book is a summary and extension of his earlier work. Readers interested
in the cross-national analysis of unemployment in the interwar period will find many British materials
here, but not much with respect to new specifications.
The chapters deal with the course of unemployment. the international context
(on
and
off
gold,
tariffs and export stimulaticn). structural and regional unemployment as well as uneven development
-
for example. through industrial diversification
-
and, perhaps most pertinent. macro-economic
policy options in theory and practice. Here W.
R.
Garside points out that ‘acutely conscious
of
the
interests which supported
it
politically and financially. the National Government vigorously pursued
orthodox policies in order to retain confidence
.
.
.
[Also] the TUC proved reluctant to mobilize
working-class support for a reflationary economic policy’ (p.
390).
It
was more concerned with
protecting the living standards
of
the employed.
Though at times redundant, this is a highly valuable contribution about a country where research
on interwar unemployment has been much more developed than in most other European countries.
EKKART ZIMMERMAN
Unirersitj
of
the
Bundeswehr.
Munich
Cambridge University Press, 1990). xvi
+
414
pp., f40.00
ISBN
0
521
36443
4.
John Greenaway, Steve Smith and John Street,
Deciding Factors in British Politics:
n
Case-studies Approach
(London
and
New York, Routledge, 1992).
x
+
266
pp..
f35.00
ISBN
0
415 02015
8,
f10.99 pbk
ISBN
0
415 03728
X.
To
quote its opening sentence, this book by five political scientists at East Anglia ‘is concerned with
the question
of
how decisions get made in British politics’. Different theories of policy-making and
models of British policy-making are tested for their validity by examining six recent British policies:
government responses
to
AIDS; the Falklands war; the rise and fall
of
the Civil Service Department;
nuclear power decisions over nearly half a century; trade union legislation from Wilson
to
Thatcher;
and decisions about purchasing Trident.
The grounds for comparison between the theories are coherence, consistency. comprehensiveness
and parsimony, and after applying these
to
the six cases the ‘rational actor’ and ‘organizational
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