Revisar OPCIONES

Houghton (Univ. of Central Florida) organizes his book into a clear conceptual scheme: the contrast between situationalism and dispositionism. Situationism is "an [analytic] approach in which the environment or situation that surrounds the individual ... is considered most important in shaping [a political] actor's behavior." Dispositionism is "an approach in which the individual actor--his or her beliefs, values and personality ... are considered most significant in this respect." The first part of the book is an introduction that consists of two chapters, the first discussing the conceptual scheme and the second giving a brief historical overview of the discipline of political psychology. The remaining 14 chapters are divided into three parts. Part 1 consists of four chapters that focus on situationalism. Part 2 has five chapters focusing on dispositionism. Finally, part 3 contains six chapters that explore the "gray area" between the two analytic approaches. In the last of these, the author lists the conditions under which the dispositions of key political actors can make a difference but ends up stressing the complexity of political behavior. He depends heavily on major research done in the final quarter of the 20th century. The writing is clear and well organized. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduate collections. C. Barner-Barry emerita, University of Maryland Baltimore County