Book reviews

Franz von Benda‐Bepkmann. Property in social continuity: continuity and change in the maintenance of property relationships through time in Minangkabau, West Sumatra. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979. xviii, 455pp. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde, 86.)

Karl J. Pelzer. Planter and peasant: colonial policy and the Agrarian struggle in east Sumatra, 1863–1947. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1978. xii, 163 pp. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde 84.)

G. W. J. Drewes (ed. and tr.). Hikajat Potjut Muhamat: an Achehnese epic. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979. 286 pp. (Bibliotheca Indonesica, 19.)

Willem Meijer. Indonesian forests and land use planning. Report on a fact‐finding tour aimed towards a co‐ordinated development of forest resources in Indonesia. Lexington, Kentucky: Thomas Hunt Morgan School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, 1975. 112 pp. $3.50, inc. postage. (Available from: University of Kentucky Book Store, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA).     

Reviews

THE PAPUA‐NEW GUINEA ELECTIONS 1964. David Bettism, Colin Hughes and Paul van der Veur (eds.) Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1965. Pp. xi + 545. $A 9.00.

SEARCH FOR NEW GUINEA'S BOUNDARIES: FROM TORRES STRAIT TO THE PACIFIC. Paul van der Veur. Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1966. Pp. xii + 178. $A 6.30.

DOCUMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE ON NEW GUINEA'S BOUNDARIES. Paul van der Veur. Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1966. Pp. 212. $A 3.90.

BURMA: FROM KINGDOM TO INDEPENDENCE. Frank N. Trager. London, Pall Mall Press, 1966. Pp. xiii + 455. $A 10.90.

THE POLITICS OF THE THIRD WORLD. J. D. B. Miller. London, Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1966. Pp. xiv + 126. $A2.15.

IRONIES OF HISTORY, ESSAYS IN CONTEMPORARY COMMUNISM. Isaac Deutscher. Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. vii + 278. $A 5.80.

SOVIET AFFAIRS NUMBER FOUR. St. Antony's Papers No. 19. Michael Kaser (ed.). Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. 156. $A5.10.

A DECADE OF COMMONWEALTH 1955–1964. W. B. Hamilton, Kenneth Robinson and C. D. W. Goodwin (eds.). Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 1966. Pp. xx + 567. (US) $12.50.

THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE‐COMMONWEALTH. Robin W. Winks (ed.). Durham N.C., Duke University Press, 1966. Pp. xiv + 596. (US) $12.50.

TEST BAN AND DISARMAMENT: THE PATH OF NEGOTIATION. Arthur H. Dean. New York, Harper and Row, 1966. Pp. xiii + 153. (U.S.) $3.50.

DETERRENCE AND THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE. Albert Legault. Toronto, Canadian Institute of International Affairs, 1966. Pp. xv + 103. $2.00 (Canadian).

STRATEGIC POWER AND SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY. Arnold L. Horelick and Myron Rush. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1966. Pp. xii + 225. (U.S.) $5.95.

NEW FEDERATIONS: EXPERIMENTS IN THE COMMONWEALTH. R. L. Watts. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1966. Pp. xii + 417 + Maps. $A 10.90.     

Are Canadians Stealth Democrats? An American Idea Comes North

In an influential 2002 study, John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse make the provocative argument that high numbers of Americans seek “stealth democracy,” that is, processes that discover the will of the people without requiring substantial citizen effort. This article applies the concept in a Canadian province and argues that the stealth democracy measure represents an ambiguous amalgam of attitudes that are only loosely related to one another, and which do not appear to represent a single, underlying concept. We draw on 2011 Saskatchewan Election Study data and find that Saskatchewan responses to the stealth democracy items generally parallel the responses gathered in previous studies conducted in the United States, Finland, Britain, and Australia. We move beyond these studies by examining the components of the stealth democracy index. We conclude by suggesting that the concept of stealth democracy be rebuilt to better distinguish among attitudes toward democracy, politics, and governing.