CONGRESS AT WORK

By Stephen K. Bailey& Howard D. Samuel '46. New York:Henry Holt, 1952. 502 pp. $5.00.

How often are we tempted to exclaim in bewilderment that our national legislature operates at cross-purposes, confused, contradictory and narrow-minded. It is all too easy to picture Congress as bent upon frustrating the President, its committees crude and brutal in their investigations, the distribution of "pork" rather than the national interest its sole preoccupation, and the floor of Congress a national forum for demagogues. Through a series of interesting and illuminating case studies, the authors of Congress atWork seek to dispel this distorted version and to reveal the vital, necessary role performed by our House of Representatives and Senate. It is to the average mature reader, not to the specialist or to the student, that Bailey and Samuel address themselves. On the whole they succeed in their efforts. Congress the interaction of legislators, party, executive, pressure groups, the press and private individuals is portrayed in terms of dynamic human behavior rather than through static organizational patterns. A series of concrete case studies provides the reader with insights into some of the principal problems inherent in our legislative process.

Inevitably, in such a large number of cases, the quality and interest is not always uniform. Nevertheless, the majority are well presented, carefully organized and focus upon controversial topics of recent years. The authors have employed a lucid, straight-forward style, which skillfully indicates the complexities of legislative politics while avoiding excessive detail or length. In brief introductions preceeding the chapters, theoretical questions are raised for the guidance of the reader in understanding and evaluating the material.