The American Political System

The volume on hand reflects a broad scope and variety of literature, ranging from bibliographical works, encyclopedias, and monographs to standard works of political science and related disciplines. The author has listed side by side American, British, German, and French publications, and occasionally also Italian, Soviet, Latin American, and Indian publications. The annotations accompanying the individual listings are very helpful, especially as regards foreign publications. About one-third of this volume is dedicated to general reference sources, which are conscientiously subdivided in disciplines related to political science. This approach betrays the author's broadmindedness, and it underlines the current trend of interdisciplinary studies. On the other hand, it might raise the question whether such extensive listings in the neighboring disciplines are really necessary in a guide that is a selective bibliography. A political scientist might possibly dispense with such entries as "Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography," or "Business Periodicals Index," but instead, he might prefer, for example, a more complete bibliography on Pan-Slavism, Pan-Germanism, and other "Pan-" movements under the categories "Political Theory" and "Ideology." Also, one may wonder whether the topics "Babylonia," "China," "Egypt," and "India" should be grouped together with the topic "American Political Theory" under the heading "Special Subjects," within the section of "Political Theory."