Book reviews

Australian books

Lionel Wigmore: Struggle for the Snowy, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1968, pp. xx + 215, $8.75.

G. Singer, Margaret Austin, Fil Schofield: On How to Keep Your Gown Clean, Basic Books, Sydney, 1968, pp. 47, 95c.

M. Kahan and D. Aitkin: Drawing a Sample of the Australian Electorate, A.N.U., Research School of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science, Occasional Papers no. 3, Canberra, 1968, pp. 46 + viii, n.p.

Malcolm Mackerras: The 1968 Federal Redistribution, A.N.U. Press, Canberra, 1969, pp. 125, $3.50.

Arthur Dean: A Multitude of Counsellors: A History of the Bar of Victoria, Cheshire, Melbourne, 1968, pp. 332 + xiii, $10.50.

Rupert Goodman: Secondary Education in Queensland, 1860–1960, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1968, pp. 396 + xi, $10.50.

Ravinder Kumar: Western India in the Nineteenth Century: a Study in the Social History of Maharashtra, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1968, pp. 347 + xii, $6.90.

Peter Boyce: Malaysia and Singapore in International Diplomacy: Documents and Commentaries, Sydney University Press, Sydney, 1968, pp. 268, $6.50.

Alastair Lamb: Asian Frontiers: Studies in a Continuing Problem, F. W. Cheshire for the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Melbourne, 1968, $3.50.

J. D. B. Miller (ed.): India, Japan, Australia: Partners in Asia?, A.N.U. Press, Canberra, pp. 212, $6.50.

Non‐Australian books

Daniel Wit: Thailand: Another Vietnam?, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1968, pp. 125, $A3.70.

Radivon Richta (ed.): Civilisation at the Crossroads: Social and Human Implications of the Scientific and Technological Revolution, Australian Left Review Publications, Sydney, 1967, pp. 275, $3.00.

Ruth M. Beard: An Outline of Piaget's Developmental Psychology, Routledge & Kegan Paul Students’ Library of Education, London, 1969, pp. 128 + xvi, $1.55.

Hans G. Furth, Piaget and Knowledge: Theoretical Foundations, Prentice‐Hall, Engle‐wood Cliffs, 1969, pp. 270 + xvii, $9.30.

J. W. Davis and K. M. Dolbeare: Little Groups of Neighbours: The Selective Service System, Markham, Chicago, 1968, pp. 268, $U.S.6.50.

E. J. Feuchtwanger: Disraeli, Democracy and the Tory Party, O.U.P., Melbourne, 1968, pp. 268 + xiv, $6.30.

Arnold J. Heidenheimer and Frank C. Langdon: Business Associations and the Financing of Political Parties: A comparative study of the evolution of practices in Germany, Norway and Japan, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1968, pp. 247 + xxiii.     

Re-examining a modern classic: does Putnam's Making Democracy Work suffer from spuriousness?

What makes democratic institutions work efficiently? Robert Putnam argued in Making Democracy Work that a mixture of political participation and immersion in associative and social networks in the community, conceptualised as ‘civic community’ or ‘social capital’, is the explanation. Ever since its publication, many questions have arisen about the validity of Putnam's theory. Among the most relevant concerns stands the influence of the Italian Communist Party on Putnam's empirical tests. This paper aims to fill the gap left in the literature by testing Putnam's hypothesis against the political party in the regional government and the PCI's electoral support. Supporting Putnam, this paper finds that variations in the quality of democratic governments in Italy's regions are a function of civic community even after adjusting for the presence of the Italian Communist Party.     

Exhibiting Cultures: Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum

Museums occupy many roles which are influenced by wider circumstances and changing conditions. This study deals with the case of Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum and the manner in which it is used to promote nation building in a multi‐ethnic and relatively newly independent state. In addition, it serves a political purpose and acts as an economic resource. The Asian Civilisations Museum illustrates some of the recent trends affecting the museum sector as a whole and also the particular challenges facing such institutions in a country like Singapore with its many distinctive qualities.