PERSONALITY, POWER AND POLITICS

The author is convinced that personality factors play an often underestimated role in decision-making processes. Not surprisingly, he discovers that political man is characterized by an authoritarian syndrome. His study, however, leaves the premise trivial and the conclusion dubious. His sampling comprises members of the legislative branch in Italy, a nation whose social institutions (as the author himself observes) are authoritarian by nature. If both political and non-political Italians are predisposed toward authoritarianism, more subtle distinctions are called for. Moreover, none of the legislators occupied a genuine decision-making position, given their particular state structure. The book may seem to offer empirical confirmation of widely accepted intuitive beliefs; but its methodology is fatally flawed. Slight value for a small audience.