Reviews

Culture in Africa: An Appeal for Pluralism edited by Raoul Granqvist. Seminar Proceedings No.29. The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala. 1993. 204 pp. illustrated.

Social Change And Economic Reform in Africa edited by Peter Gibbon. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala. 1993. 379 pp. including references and notes on contributors.

The Idea of Africa by V.Y.Mudimbe. Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis, and James Currey, London. 1994. xvii plus 234 pp. including illustrations, bibliography and index.

Can National Dialogue Break the Power of Terror in Burundi? Report on the Impact of the International Conference National Dialogue Held in Bujumbura, May 15–18, on Burundian Efforts to Restore Domestic Process in the Country by Zdenek Cervenka and Colin Legum. Current African Issues 17. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, Sweden. 1994. 29 pp.

Ethnicity in Focus: The South African Case by Simon Bekker. Indicator SA Issue Focus, Centre for Social and Development Studies, University of Natal. 1993. iii plus 117pp. including notes, bibliography and index.

Liquor and Labour in Southern Africa edited by Jonathan Crush and Charles Ambler. Athens and Pietermaritzburg: Ohio University Press and University of Natal Press. 1992. 412 pp. including figures, tables and index.

Chelewa, Chelewa, The Dilemma of Teenage Girls edited by Zubeida Tumbo‐Masabo and Rita Liljestrom. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. 1994. 218 pp.

Towards More Appropriate Technologies? Experiences from the Water and Sanitation Sector by Mariken Vaa. Report No. 94, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala. 1993. 91 pp. including references.

From the Mountains to the Plains. The Integration of the Lafofa Nuba into Sudanese Society by L.O. Manger. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala. 1994. 175 pp.

The New Local Level Politics in East Africa. Studies on Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya edited by Peter Gibbon. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala. 1994. Research Report No. 95. 118 pp. including figures, notes and references. Paperback. US$9.95.

Tanzania: The Limits to Development from Above by Kjell J. Havnevik. The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden. 1993. 343 pp. including tables, bibliography and appendices.

A Blighted Harvest: The World Bank and African Agriculture in the 1980s by Peter Gibbon, Kjell J. Havnevik and Kenneth Hermele. James Currey, London and Africa World Press, Trenton, New Jersey. 1993.     

Taiwan’s Sub-national Government Relations with Japan: Post-1979 Developments

In 1972 the Japanese government ended its diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China. And yet it did not. In the aftermath of that decision, colonial legacy ties between Taiwan and Japan were drawn upon to create a new form of relationship, with ties that were official in all but name. Taiwanese cities and counties were also encouraged to develop formal ties with their Japanese counterparts. These sub-national ties are a critical – but little researched – component of the enduring bilateral relationship between these two countries. This article – based on extensive fieldwork in both countries – is an initial effort in understanding how these ties have developed and function, and how they support bilateral relations between Taiwan and Japan. Drawing on additional fieldwork in China, this article also considers what formal limitations exist on the para-diplomatic relations between these countries.     

Private regulation in mental health

General hospitals are increasingly important sources of care for chronic and acute mental patients. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) standards for staffing in general hospitals require the same degree of physician supervision and control for all services, including mental health. This paper considers the economic impact of JCAH standards on the practice of psychologists in hospitals. The “voluntariness” of the standards is assessed and the evidence that these standards foster economic protectionism is considered. We conclude that in light of the demonstrated capability of nonphysician professionals, methods of quality control appropriate for physician health care in general hospitals should be reconsidered as these instutions diversify into mental health services.     

Bureaucrats in politics: a profile of the Swedish administrative elite3††

Abstract. In political systems composed of large and growing public bureaucracies, the attitudes of senior civil servants are extraordinarily significant, if little understood. This paper offers a preliminary view of the attitudes of more than 300 top-level Swedish administrators, based upon information gathered in 1971. Responses to 35 written questionnaire items suggest that upper-level Swedish bureaucrats are self-satisfied in evaluating their activities, independent in their thinking, and politically sophisticated. The same responses offer evidence of attitudes that structure the traditionally Swedish ‘art of compromise’ Intellectually, that art emphasizes particularistic thought patterns. Socially, it seems based on a pattern of limited commitment to official roles. Some implications of these patterns for both policy and process are suggested, along with some speculations concerning the future of the Swedish administrative system. Sommaire. Dans les systèmes politiques cornposés de bureaucraties de plus en plus importantes, les attitudes des hauts fonctionnaires sont extraordinairement significatives, encore que mal comprises. Cette communication offre une étude préliminaire des attitudes de plus de 300 cadres administratifs supérieurs suéois, sur la base de renseignements recueillis en 1971. Les réponses à 35 questions écrites laissent supposer que les bureaucrates suédois, au niveau supérieur, sont satisfaits de l'évaluation qu'ils font de leurs activités, qu'ils ont un esprit indépendant et qu'ils sont raffinés politiquement. Ces mêmes réponses indiquent des attitudes qui entérinent ‘l'art du compromis’ qui est, traditionnellement, très suédois. Intellectuellement, cet art accentue des façons de penser particularistes. Socialement, il semble basé sur un engagement limité vis-à-vis des rôes officiels. L'auteur propose à l'examen certaines implications de cet état d'esprit du point de vue des politiques et des processus ainsi que des spVculations sur l'avenir du système administratif suédois.