James Burnham (1905–1987)

This is an excellent book, overall. If you are a political scientist, then this must be on your shelf, and you must read it. He followed a path of strict realism when writing this book and, some may even say, he imbued the text with a small degree of cynicism. There is no woolly-headed philosophy in the book: just political science as he sees it.

I was not always clear about his definition of a manager. Does he refer to corporate managers or bureaucrats, or does he refer to the core team around political leaders? This is not always clear.… (more)

A classic work that is illuminating at least as much for its analysis of modern ideology as for its thesis (which has become relevant again in the face of the rise of militant Islam).

The main flaw in this work is the 39 point litmus test for liberalism; people reflexively take it as a measure of where one falls on a left-right spectrum and so misunderstand it. The list is best understood as a list of principles that are so central to liberalism that their negation would question one's status as a bona fide liberal; a measure of conservatism would require a different list.… (more)