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American Prince, American Pauper: The contemporary vice presidency in perspective
108
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unrepresentative sample. For Arizona, where there are dozens of regularly scheduled such events, he lists only two. A larger sample would have been much more useful. The last (and longest) chapter is a directory of outlets that sell native arts and crafts. Organized by states, the list makes no qualitative analysis of these retail and wholesale outlets: The only advice the author offers is “let the buyer beware.” In sum, this book is useful only if one wants to find the address of tribal governments, government agencies, or stores selling native goods. Beyond that type of reference service, T&e American Indian Index does not venture.
American Prince, American Pauper: The Contemporary Vice Presidency in Perspective By Marie D. Natoli Westpo~, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985,204 pages, $35.00 ISBN O-3 13-24750-I. LC 84-28965. Reviewed by W. Landis Jones
W. Landis Jones is Professor and Chair of Political ville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292.
Science at the University
of Louis-
Marie Natoli sets out her major thesis on the American vice presidency in a part of her title, “American Prince, American Pauper”. She claims that even though the Vice President is one of only two nationally elected officers in the government of the United States, the vice presidency is completely dependent for its functional content upon the whim of the President being served. Her thesis is substantiated by her thorough examination of all of the vice presidencies from Truman through Bush, all of whom have been dependent on their President’s style and even personal caprice. Professor Natoii examines the constitutional roles of the Vice President, the selection of candidates for this office, the vice presidency as a stepping stone to the presidency, and the Vice President as heir apparent. She illustrates the growing dependence of the Vice Presidents as they have moved from a limited legislative role to an increasingly important executive role. She concludes with a very short prospectus of what the vice presidency should be and changes that should be made. These proposed changes do not necessarily follow the prior descriptive material, e.g., her attack on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Obviously she has prepared the conclusion that the Mondale-Bush prototype is a constructive one for the future development. Not as theoretical as Allan Sindler’s Unchosen Presidents or as comprehensive as Joel K. Goldstein’s 77re Modern American Vice Presidency, Natoli’s work utilizes well the neglected materiah from the presidential libraries. Her inclusion of well-documented examples from various vice presidencies in each chapter makes for disjointed reading, but provides excellent vignettes of each vice president. This comparative ideographic approach illustrates well the growth of the office. The major contributions of this volume are the extensive footnotes from presidential library sources, including oral histories, and the bibliographic essay at the end. The
109
Reviews
greatest disappointment is the brief analytical summary, which could have been used to tie together the extensive anecdotal examples. The few anomalies, such as the unsubstantiated finding of Gerald Ford “not particularly inspiring or qualified to be vice president or president” (p. 84), relate to a deficiency of analytical framework and definition rather than depth of research.
Cities of the World: A Compilation of Current Information on Cultural, Geographical, and Political Conditions in the Countries and Cities of Six Continents, Based on the Department of State’s “Post Reports”(Second edition) Edited by Margaret Walsh Young and Susan L. Stetler Detroit, ~ichi~: Gale Research Company, 1985,4 volumes, 3,056 pages, $235.00 ISBN O-8 103-2059-2 (set). LC 85-1033 1.
Reviewed by David Mill
David Mill, Reference chusetts 02155.
Librarian,
Wessell Library,
Tufts University,
Medford,
Massa-
Cities of the Wodd divides the globe into four areas, one for each volume in the set, and arranges the countries, together with their respective cities, alphabetically within each. Expanded since its first edition, coverage is provided for some 137 countries and 374 cities. The first section of each entry is devoted to the country’s major cities, providing information on history, culture, recreation, and entertainment, as well as a discussion of schools available for foreigners, The second portion concentrates on the country itself, with a brief overview of geography, climate, population, government, education, commerce, transportation, communications, and health care, augmented by a list of local holidays, a substantial bibliography of recommended readings (most dating from the 1960s and 197Os), and a succinct “Notes for Travelers” section. The text is interspersed with black and white photographs of fair quality, and a simple schematic diagram showing main thoroughfares is given for a single city from each country. Coverage is limited to those countries which have American embassies or consulates, excluding such places as Taiwan, Vietnam, Libya, and Iran, and, not surprisingly, the perspective is American. In addition to a well-designed cumulative index at the end of the work, each volume has its own individual index. The quality of the printing is good, though minor errors with diacriticals were found, e.g., die schone (sic) Stadt (v.3, p_ 18). Despite additions and omissions made by the editors to the rather special purpose Post Reports, the information given here is not well suited to the needs of the typical short-term vacationer. No detailed country maps are found, and the selected city maps that are provided are all but useless. In addition, no information on accommodations or
GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
QUARTERLY
Vol. ~/NO. l/1987
unrepresentative sample. For Arizona, where there are dozens of regularly scheduled such events, he lists only two. A larger sample would have been much more useful. The last (and longest) chapter is a directory of outlets that sell native arts and crafts. Organized by states, the list makes no qualitative analysis of these retail and wholesale outlets: The only advice the author offers is “let the buyer beware.” In sum, this book is useful only if one wants to find the address of tribal governments, government agencies, or stores selling native goods. Beyond that type of reference service, T&e American Indian Index does not venture.
American Prince, American Pauper: The Contemporary Vice Presidency in Perspective By Marie D. Natoli Westpo~, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985,204 pages, $35.00 ISBN O-3 13-24750-I. LC 84-28965. Reviewed by W. Landis Jones
W. Landis Jones is Professor and Chair of Political ville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292.
Science at the University
of Louis-
Marie Natoli sets out her major thesis on the American vice presidency in a part of her title, “American Prince, American Pauper”. She claims that even though the Vice President is one of only two nationally elected officers in the government of the United States, the vice presidency is completely dependent for its functional content upon the whim of the President being served. Her thesis is substantiated by her thorough examination of all of the vice presidencies from Truman through Bush, all of whom have been dependent on their President’s style and even personal caprice. Professor Natoii examines the constitutional roles of the Vice President, the selection of candidates for this office, the vice presidency as a stepping stone to the presidency, and the Vice President as heir apparent. She illustrates the growing dependence of the Vice Presidents as they have moved from a limited legislative role to an increasingly important executive role. She concludes with a very short prospectus of what the vice presidency should be and changes that should be made. These proposed changes do not necessarily follow the prior descriptive material, e.g., her attack on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Obviously she has prepared the conclusion that the Mondale-Bush prototype is a constructive one for the future development. Not as theoretical as Allan Sindler’s Unchosen Presidents or as comprehensive as Joel K. Goldstein’s 77re Modern American Vice Presidency, Natoli’s work utilizes well the neglected materiah from the presidential libraries. Her inclusion of well-documented examples from various vice presidencies in each chapter makes for disjointed reading, but provides excellent vignettes of each vice president. This comparative ideographic approach illustrates well the growth of the office. The major contributions of this volume are the extensive footnotes from presidential library sources, including oral histories, and the bibliographic essay at the end. The
109
Reviews
greatest disappointment is the brief analytical summary, which could have been used to tie together the extensive anecdotal examples. The few anomalies, such as the unsubstantiated finding of Gerald Ford “not particularly inspiring or qualified to be vice president or president” (p. 84), relate to a deficiency of analytical framework and definition rather than depth of research.
Cities of the World: A Compilation of Current Information on Cultural, Geographical, and Political Conditions in the Countries and Cities of Six Continents, Based on the Department of State’s “Post Reports”(Second edition) Edited by Margaret Walsh Young and Susan L. Stetler Detroit, ~ichi~: Gale Research Company, 1985,4 volumes, 3,056 pages, $235.00 ISBN O-8 103-2059-2 (set). LC 85-1033 1.
Reviewed by David Mill
David Mill, Reference chusetts 02155.
Librarian,
Wessell Library,
Tufts University,
Medford,
Massa-
Cities of the Wodd divides the globe into four areas, one for each volume in the set, and arranges the countries, together with their respective cities, alphabetically within each. Expanded since its first edition, coverage is provided for some 137 countries and 374 cities. The first section of each entry is devoted to the country’s major cities, providing information on history, culture, recreation, and entertainment, as well as a discussion of schools available for foreigners, The second portion concentrates on the country itself, with a brief overview of geography, climate, population, government, education, commerce, transportation, communications, and health care, augmented by a list of local holidays, a substantial bibliography of recommended readings (most dating from the 1960s and 197Os), and a succinct “Notes for Travelers” section. The text is interspersed with black and white photographs of fair quality, and a simple schematic diagram showing main thoroughfares is given for a single city from each country. Coverage is limited to those countries which have American embassies or consulates, excluding such places as Taiwan, Vietnam, Libya, and Iran, and, not surprisingly, the perspective is American. In addition to a well-designed cumulative index at the end of the work, each volume has its own individual index. The quality of the printing is good, though minor errors with diacriticals were found, e.g., die schone (sic) Stadt (v.3, p_ 18). Despite additions and omissions made by the editors to the rather special purpose Post Reports, the information given here is not well suited to the needs of the typical short-term vacationer. No detailed country maps are found, and the selected city maps that are provided are all but useless. In addition, no information on accommodations or