Reviews

Jerry F. Hough and Merle Fainsod, How the Soviet Union is Governed (An extensively revised and enlarged edition by Jerry F. Hough of Merle Fainsod's How Russia is Ruled). Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1979, xiv + 679 pp. £12.00.

Karen Dawisha, Soviet Foreign Policy Towards Egypt. London: Macmillan Press, 1979, 271 pp. £12.00.

Robert O. Freedman, Soviet Policy toward the Middle East since 1970 (Revised Edition). New York, London, Sydney, Toronto: Praeger Publishers, 1978. 373 pp.

Daniel Park, Oil and Gas in Comecon Countries, London: Kogan Page & New York: Nichols Publishing Company, 1979. 240 pp. £15.00.

Avi Shlaim and G. N. Yannopoulos (eds.), The EEC and Eastern Europe. London: Cambridge University Press, 1978. 251 pp. £15.00.

Daniel Tarschys, The Soviet Political Agenda: Problems and Priorities, 1950–1970. London: Macmillan Press, 1979. i + 217 pp. £10.00.

Soviet Society and the Communist Party, edited by Karl W. Ryavec. Amherst, Mass.: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1978. xviii + 220 pp. $15.00.

Richard Stites, The Women's Liberation Movement in Russia. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978. xxi + 464 pp. $37.50.

Barbara Wolfe Jancar, Women Under Communism. Baltimore, Maryland: John Hopkins University Press, 1978. x + 291 pp. $16.00.

Norman Saul, Sailors in Revolt. The Russian Baltic Fleet in 1917. Lawrence: The Regents Press of Kansas, 1978. xii + 312 pp.

Richard K. Debo, Revolution and Survival: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia 1917–18. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1979. xiii + 462 pp. £15.00.

William O. McCagg, Jr. Stalin Embattled, 1943–1948. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1978. 423 pp. $18.95.

Arvind Vyas, Consumption in a Socialist Economy. The Soviet Industrialization Experience, 1929–1937. Foreword by Maurice Dobb. New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1978. xii + 239 pp. Rs. 50.00.

Alfred D. Low, The Sino‐Soviet Dispute: An Analysis of the Polemics. London: Associated University Presses, 1977. 364 pp. £8.25.

Morris Rothenberg, Whither China: The View from the Kremlin. University of Miami. Monographs in International Affairs, xxi + 310 pp.

Morton Schwartz, Soviet Perceptions of the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. 216 pp. £8.75.

A. Szymanski, Is the red flag flying? London: Zed Press, 1979. 235 pp. Paperback £2.95.

John Dunstan, Paths to Excellence and the Soviet School. Windsor: NFER Publishing Co., 1978. 302 pp. £9.75.

Leopold H. Haimson (ed.), The Politics of Rural Russia 1905–1914 (Studies of the Russian Insitute, Columbia University). Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1979. x + 309 pp. $19.50/£13.65.

R. W. Seton‐Watson and the Yugoslavs: Correspondence, 1906–1941, Vol. II 1918–1941. Introduction by H. & C. Seton‐Watson. London and Zagreb: British Academy and University of Zagreb, Institute of Croatian History, 1976. 468 pp. + 474 pp. (two books).     

Global Patterns and Postcommunist Dynamics

Many of the new democracies that have been formed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 lack what had long been understood as preconditions for the democratic project: an earlier history of democratic politics, high personal incomes, a large middle class, and/or settled borders. The most distinctive aspects of this wave of democratic transitions are rapid regime change and the rise of democracies that exhibit a mixture of both authoritarian and democratic elements. This article explores what these new democracies can teach us about the factors that seem to encourage a transition from dictatorship to democracy, and what factors seem to contribute to its sustainability and institutionalization.     

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Private Prison Staff: Why Management Should Care

The number of private prisons run by corporate security businesses has increased rapidly throughout the past two decades. There has been a parallel increase in literature, both pro and con, comparing the efficiency and effectiveness of private and public prisons; however, private prison staff has been largely ignored. OLS regression analysis of a survey of 160 employees at a Midwestern private prison facility showed that the job characteristics of job stress, supervision, and job variety were far more important than personal characteristics of race/ethnicity, gender, age, tenure, education and position in influencing staff job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Specifically, job stress had the largest impact on job satisfaction, while quality of supervision had the greatest impact on organizational commitment.     

The Truth about Interviewing Elites

This article reviews the small literature on how to interview elites. It examines the veracity of three sets of assumptions embedded in the literature: about the nature of truth; dishonest respondents; and sophisticated but powerless researchers. It suggests ways forward, including ensuring that researchers place their work in more explicit philosophical and reflexive frameworks. This would result in more rigorous research and improved pedagogy.     

KEY LINKAGES BETWEEN CHILD WELFARE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT: SOCIAL FUNCTIONING IMPROVEMENTS AND CLIENT SATISFACTION IN A FAMILY DRUG TREATMENT COURT*

This article summarizes early findings regarding social functioning and client satisfaction from a longitudinal study of women receiving treatment in a family drug treatment court located in the Midwestern United States (N = 33). Drug treatment court participants were interviewed at program entry and when they had completed 6 months of treatment. Family drug court participants reported significant improvements in employment status and increases in earned income after 6 months of treatment. Respondents also reported improved social functioning and high overall levels of satisfaction with treatment. Findings and implications for future research are discussed.