Cabinets in Western Europe /

A welcome addition to a growing literature on the processes and structure of cabinet government in European democracies. Some of Europe's leading students of comparative government analyze 13 European parliamentary democracies and the dynamics that shape and influence the peculiar nature of collective leadership. The editors sustain remarkable coherence and continuity despite the geographical and structural diversity. Yet the book lacks focus and purpose, other than to provide needed detail on the different natures of cabinet government. Very little theory is present; the authors describe and explain rather than validate. Blondel's introduction gives a fine overview of the issues central to more sophisticated studies of cabinet and coalition government, and Muller-Rommel concludes with an equally lucid and insightful survey of the issues remaining. However, the authors seem almost unaware that the field has gone far beyond simple structure. Casting the details in light of the institutional political economy paradigm would have been more useful. Nonetheless, this is a very good, up-to-date source of critical information about the workings and detail of cabinet governments often missing in more analytical studies. An excellent complement to Government Coalitions in Western Democracies, ed. by E. Browne and J. Dreijmanis (CH, Jun '83) and to Arendt Lijphart's Democraries (CH, Jun '84). Upper-level students. -J. D. Robertson, Texas A & M University