A vast and complicated array of subject matter is subjected to
analysis, comment, and speculation by fifteen contributors
representing three separate but contiguous disciplines. Their
approaches are as various as one would expect. One is concerned
with the bonds that hold associations together, and another with
the tendency for the private to become public. One sees
associations as interferences with democratic political processes,
while another is more impressed by their positive values. Still
another shows that the way in which they operate in the political
process depends not only on the kind of association but also upon
the political context within which they operate.
Pennock and Chapman say that the theorist's job is to speculate
and to interpret the facts as he sees them. It is also the
theorist's job to suggest hypotheses for testing: to point to lines
of inquiry that should be pursued. One cannot read the essays in
this volume, without having his eyes opened--or opened wider--both
to the paucity of information about the political features of
voluntary associations and to the wide variety of aspects from
which the subject needs to be approached.
The kinds of questions that need to be examined can be grouped
in categories. The first focuses on the individual: What kinds of
memberships does he have? Even more, what is the effect upon him of
membership in each kind of association? The second examines
internal composition and workings of organizations. The third
focuses on the state as a whole and the effect of organized groups
upon it, the political processes of the associational structure of
the society, and modes of behavior of these associations.
Organized groups play an intermediate role in the polity. At the
same time, the state, and those charged at any particular time with
the performance of its functions, must look primarily to new
associations within it to secure compliance with its law and for
guidance in shaping those laws.
"J. Roland Pennock" was professor of political science at
Swarthmore College for more than twenty-five years, as well as a
fellow at the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. "John W.
Chapman" is professor emeritus of political science at the
University of Pittsburgh.
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