HUMAN NATURE AND POLITICAL SYSTEMS

This compact book is a useful addition to the literature of underdeveloped nations and political revolution. The author briefly lists and discusses the requirements the human being imposes on any political system. He examines the psychological processes by which an individual identifies his own interest with that of his group and shows the crucial importance of a political system in the social order. The major contribution of this book is the emphasis placed on the problem of speeding the transition of the under-developed nations to a growth level where its people can become aware of the sort of political system they would like to achieve. Turning to the ideological struggle being waged between the American idea and the Soviet Idea, Mr. Cantril contends that this government must help the peoples of the poor nations become politically sophisticated and life themselves to a level where primitive appeals will be ineffective. Recommended for all college and university libraries and large public libraries.