Book Reviews
| Date | 01 July 1967 |
| Published date | 01 July 1967 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1967.tb00302.x |
Book Reviews
DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING-Lessons
of
Experience
by
ALBERT
WATERSON,
assisted by C. J.
MARTIN,
AUGUST
T.
SCHUMACHER
and
FRITZ
A.
STEUBER;
John Hopkins Press,
U.S.A.,
Oxford University Press, London,
1966; pp. 725; 65s.
Not
so very long ago it was not uncommon to think that all that was
needed to produce adevelopment plan was three weeks and a slide rule.
Further, that once the plan has been produced then development would
automatically flow from the carefully thought out relationships. But in
practice things have not worked out this way. A considerable amount of
experience has now been accumulated and although in a sense every ex-
perience is unique there is undoubtedly much to be gained from studying
the problems, failures and achievements of others.
The
great value of this
book by Albert Waterston and his associates is that it is based on the hard
facts of planning life, and it is a substantial contribution to the subject.
Its coverage is wide and deep and it deals with planning in developed and
less developed countries, in socialist and mixed economies.
The
analysis
is set too in its historical context and the authors trace the growth of the
concept of planning and of its application.
The
presentation of the material is excellent.
The
style
of
writing is
clear, the chapters are each set out with useful sub-headings; and each is
rounded off with a summary and conclusions.
There
are also some very
useful appendices with lists of the plans of individual countries from the
time when each started formal planning. There is a good bibliography
and a full index. In short reference is easy and this gives it added value
for harassed planners.
It is not however without certain weaknesses. From time to time one
wonders
if
one is reading the minutes of a discussion meeting with everyone's
point
of
view carefully noted. It revels in talking about pros and cons,
about advantages and disadvantages, about 'either' and 'or'. Also, although
filled with references to the experiences
of
various countries, they somehow
lack sustained examination.
Our
appetite is whetted for a longer and deeper
analysis of individual countries' plans from the earliest stages
of
gestation
right through formulation and implementation.
A major part
of
the book deals with the administrative problems
of
planning
and the proportion rightly reflects the overwhelming importance of this
aspect of the operation.
Of
special interest are the problems of internal
co-ordination among the various agencies which have a hand in planning.
This co-ordination is relevant not only to the various ministries, departments
and agencies within government offices at the centre, but also to the possibly
much more difficult relationship of the centre to the provincial administrations.
Basicallywhat one is talking about is plan implementation and as Sir Arthur
Lewis has expressed it in his Deuelopment Planning, 'Making a plan is an
exercise
of
the imagination, while implementation is a struggle with reality.'
The
reality is frequently somewhat sombre and Albert Waters ton has not
shirked this. Indeed he starkly acknowledges, 'Few governments
of
less
2°7
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