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L. J. Sharpe's two-part article ('American Democracy Reconsidered' in this Journal, III [1973], 1–28,129–68) is an important and controversial one. He questions many of the orthodox interpretations of American urban politics, suggests that some of the supposedly well-established observations about British and American contrasts may boil down to bits of conventional wisdom, and raises many points about social justice and democracy, which are at the centre of everyday practical politics but which sometimes slide from view in modern 'value free' social science. The article will hopefully attract the critical attention of American writers, but meanwhile here are some reflections from a slightly different point of view on some of the themes of the article.

66 Labour & Conservative Birmingham County Borough Council members were surveyed, via indepth interview, with regard to their attitudes toward 6 dimensions of role behavior. These dimensions include: (1) representational & area roles, (2) geographical focus of interest--the particular ward representative vs the representative who prefers large-scale city governing, (3) content of political work & the nature of characteristic activity--dealing with individual problems vs working on general policy matters, (4) specialization vs generalization, (5) group affiliation & pressure-group influences, & (6) party faithfulness vs party rebels, & abstaining on certain issues. Results of the survey serve to paint a detailed picture of these politicians of Birmingham, who comprise a good cross-sectional representation of the normal county borough council. Because the 6 dimensions deal primarily with stated attitudes, these assertions are also examined as they compare to actual behavior, & the 2 are found to by highly congruous. A hypothesis is advanced which postulates that variation from politician to politician in role preferences can be traced to 3 dimensions: (A) political party, (B) age of entry into politics, & (C) length of service. The patterns which emerge when the sample is simultaneously controlled for the 3 variables are complex; in general, however, ideological outlook, maturity of interpretation of politics, & degree of political dedication can be used as accurate indicators of role orientation. 7 Tables. C. Grindle.