The Legislative Connection: The Politics of Representation in Kenya, Korea and Turkey (review)

BOOK REVIEWS103 view than most others. Ten issues, covering virtually all aspects ofthe relationship, have been defined including, among others, mutual perceptions, economic relations , the early period of diplomatic relations, and the current security dimension. The second feature which distinguishes this volume is its organizational focus. Each issue has, Hegelian-style, both a Korean and an American rapporteur giving contrasting views on a single issue. While it is not possible within the space ofa short review to discuss adequately the full range of ideas presented in the twenty-one articles that make up the volume, some can be summarized briefly. The volume begins with an informed set of comments by Senator Charles Percy which sets forth his reasons for opposing the Carter troop withdrawal. In essays looking at the early years ofthe relationship, Claude Buss, Robert Scalapino, and William Gleysteen all argue that American noninterference in the Japanese takeover of Korea was the correct policy at the time because it was not in our national interest to intervene. Edward Wagner and Ko Byong-ik explore the reasons why Koreans tended to like the United States, citing its nonacquisitive nature, the character ofits people, and the democratic nature ofits political institutions . In one of the few essays that breaks new ground in scholarship, Lew Youngick makes a strong case that Japan and the United States followed parallel policies in Korea before 1905. Another notable contribution comes from Michael Kalton, who argues that the United States has much to learn from Korea, reversing the usual order of things, and that what the United States needs is a little dose of Confucianism. William Watts ably documents American ignorance ofKorea. Park Kwon-sang uses literature to reflect upon the perceptions of America among Koreans. Gari Ledyard provides an insightful view ofthe unification of Koryö and Silla, and compares their policies to the current unification policies of North and South Korea. David Steinberg argues that indigenous factors were more responsible for the economic miracle of Korea than American aid, while Cho Soon takes the opposite view. If there is one theme running through most of the articles, it is, not surprisingly , that the relationship has been and remains out ofbalance. The only weakness of the volume is the lack of any treatment of United States relations with North Korea. In such a comprehensive volume, this omission is somewhat puzzling and creates its own imbalance. Wayne Patterson Saint Norbert College The Legislative Connection: The Politics ofRepresentation in Kenya, Korea and Turkey. By Chong Lim Kim, Joel D. Barkan, liter Turan, and Malcolm E. Jewel. Durham, North Caroline: Duke University Press, 1984. 400pp. $39.75. This work is the result of seven years of research formulation and field surveys by a crossnational team of highly competent and experienced scholars. In addition to the principal authors, others involved included John J. Okumu (Tanzania); Seong- 104BOOK REVIEWS Tong Pai (Korea); Ahmet Yücekök (Turkey); Leonard Ngugi (Kenya); J. O. Kimoro (Kenya); Young W. Kihl (United States); Byung-Kyu Woo (Korea); and Terfik Cavdar (Turkey). Also contributing were various academic institutes and other scholars in the countries studied and at the University of Iowa. The results are impressive, in that a large mass offindings has been carefully correlated and made fairly coherent. Focus is on national legislative bodies in Kenya, the Republic of(South) Korea, and Turkey. The methodology is in the V.D. Key tradition of interviewing politicians—in this study there was sampling of legislators, local elites (often called "notables" in the text), and constituents. The analysis rests on the assumption that the countries surveyed are not highly developed democratic polities: "If the legislature in most developing countries is either not permitted to exist or not permitted to exercise a significant and independent role in the making ofpublic policy, what functions does the legislature perform in these political systems? What are its prospects for survival as an institutionalized part of these political systems? And what, if any, is the significance of these powerless organizations for the developmental process" (p. 8). The answer to these question is "linkage"—the relationship between legislators and the general public, as well as between legislators and local elites. The authors contend convincingly...