ASIAN POWER AND POLITICS: The Cultural Dimensions of Authority

by Lucian W. with Mary W. Pye Pye ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1985

A study of the nature and exercise of power and authority in the East. Pye's thesis is that as social psychology cannot be properly understood unless it is embedded in a context of individual psychology, so the phenomenon of power cannot be understood without reference to the cultural context within which it exists. Pye contends that those political scientists who study the nature of power have erred in treating it as a universal concept. He argues that the exercise of power changes from culture to culture according to the perceptions, expectations and demands of the people. This understanding is vital, Pye contends, to an understanding of events in the developing world. He declares that ""changes in people's subjective understanding of the nature of power, changes in their expectations about authority, and changes in their interpretation of what constitutes legitimacy are the key determinants of political development."" Central to Pye's thesis is his contrasting of the Western concept of individual autonomy with the Eastern concept of dependency on an idealized, benevolent, authoritarian leadership. The paternalistic form of power fulfills deep psychological cravings for the security that dependency brings and develops much closer ties between the leader and the led than is usual in the West. The national, mystical reverence in which Japan's emperor is held is an example--quite different in nature from the fondness of the British for their royal family. In the West, the governed expect authority figures to make decisions about practical affairs and thus to shape events. In the East, the people view power mainly as conferring status which must be accorded dignity and deference; power confers the right to avoid having to make practical decisions, which, properly, are left to subordinates. Pye's thesis, closely reasoned and brilliantly argued, this is a superb contribution to the international political debate. With it in hand, one can, for instance, begin to unravel the continual misunderstandings between the administrations in Washington and Saigon that contributed so much to the tragedy in Vietnam. The book should be widely read in our State Department and Foreign Service and in foreign offices everywhere.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harvard Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION