STORM OVER THE STATES
By
From start to finish, Terry Sanford's Storm over the States is a classic of banality. Purportedly a study in depth of state government--its problems, achievements and failure--it communicates nothing new to anyone who has even superficially glanced at a newspaper in the past ten years. In a typical eight-page, large print, chapter, Mr. Sanford, in the role of political theorist, invokes Paine and Jefferson and finally arrives at his breathtaking conclusion: that government is supposed to serve the people. After similarly incisive comments on what's wrong with the states, he tells us in six pages of ""attempts towards improvement."" Attempts are being made, and some states are even revising their constitutions. Such amazing revelations are hardly exceptional in this unexceptional, superficial and disappointing study. Mr. Sanford--and this hurts--is former governor of North Carolina.