Bureaucracy /

A volume on political theory in a traditional sense, rather than on public administration, as may be assumed from its title. It is written by a European whose previous research focused on Max Weber (Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics, CH, Mar '75) and Marxism (Marxism in the Face of Fascism, CH, Jul '85). Bureaucracy begins with the premise that the reader must understand these two disciplinary perspectives in order to learn more about this specific subject. The particular concern of this well-reasoned and difficult essay is bureaucratic power and what accounts for it. In developing the analysis, Beetham critiques the inadequacies of institutional models of bureaucracy and theories of bureaucratic power. He then places this critical analysis in the framework of democratic theory. The amalgam is a worthy multidisciplinary effort that should appeal to numerous organizational theorists, sociologists, political scientists, and anyone else with an interest in the relationship between contemporary social problems and classical thought. Graduate students and faculty.-W.P. Browne, Central Michigan University