Books in Brief

The Costs of Democracy, by Alexander Heard (University of North Carolina Press, $6.00). Who contributes the money that is spent in local, state and national elections? Where does it go? And what effect does it have on the elections, and on the recipients? These questions go to the very heart of the American political system; yet till now there has been no really thorough study of the subject, and almost no dependable statistics concerning it. Professor Heard’s book is probably destined to be the foremost authority in this murky area for years and even decades to come. Comprehensive, detailed, and gravid with fascinating charts and footnotes, it is nevertheless smoothly, almost breezily written—a shining example of lucid scholarship. The Gore Committee of the Senate (on Election Expenditures) worked closely with the author; and a faint Democratic bias is, perhaps consequently, discernible here and there. But one of the work’s major conclusions will not comfort Senator Gore: “It cannot be argued convincingly that the Democratic party has lost a single presidential election in the twentieth century for want of funds.”

W. A. RUSHER

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The Costs of Democracy, by Alexander Heard (University of North Carolina Press, $6.00). Who contributes the money that is spent in local, state and national elections? Where does it go? And what effect does it have on the elections, and on the recipients? These questions go to the very heart of the American political system; yet till now there has been no really thorough study of the subject, and almost no dependable statistics concerning it. Professor Heard’s book is probably destined to be the foremost authority in this murky area for years and even decades to come. Comprehensive, detailed, and gravid with fascinating charts and footnotes, it is nevertheless smoothly, almost breezily written—a shining example of lucid scholarship. The Gore Committee of the Senate (on Election Expenditures) worked closely with the author; and a faint Democratic bias is, perhaps consequently, discernible here and there. But one of the work’s major conclusions will not comfort Senator Gore: “It cannot be argued convincingly that the Democratic party has lost a single presidential election in the twentieth century for want of funds.”

W. A. RUSHER