Renzo De Felice's most recent publications, Mussolini il duce and Fascism: An Informal Introduction to Its Theory and Practice, have caused considerable consternation among both the lay and academic public. De Felice has suggested that generic fascism, and particularly Italian Fascism, may have displayed some progressive and revolutionary features. He goes on to suggest that Italian Fascism shared some affinities with the traditional “left.” Most of these contentions are well supported in the specialized literature; while they may cause some political discomfort, they should generate little intellectual resistance. The discussion concerning sensitive political issues has caused scholars to neglect some important methodological theses which De Felice is prepared to defend. The most critical issue turns on the role and legitimacy of generalizing over an ill-defined generic fascism. De Felice has attempted to restrict the characterization “fascist” to one or two strictly European regimes. The article concludes that there are no methodological grounds for such a restriction.

The author analyzes recent efforts by Soviet and East European theorists to explain the interrelationships among science, technology, and social change in socialist and capitalist countries, and to understand the role that scientific and technical advances are playing and can play in the transition to new forms of “developed socialism.” Theories of “the scientific-technological revolution” are examined from various perspectives: their intellectual content, their social and ideological functions, and the reciprocal influences of ideas, policy, and administrative practice. This essay brings to the attention of Western readers a type of literature strongly encouraged by contemporary Soviet leaders; it is a major evolving component of Marxism-Leninism, and may be influencing or reflecting some of the changing policies and attitudes of communist political elites.

This review of eight recently published works on Yugoslavia suggests that although information about the country is constantly increasing, the conceptual approach of social scientists continues to limit our understanding of its politics. Focusing on a variety of problems of interpretation that arise out of the concept of ideology in each work, the author offers alternative interpretations of Yugoslav politics and assesses the current state of our knowledge.

Robert W. Tucker's The Inequality of Nations is a critical work on Third-World egalitarianism and those in the First and Third World who urge greater equality among states. Inequality, maintains Tucker, is built into the system of states; new sensibilities that question inequality are thus unwarranted and historically groundless. This essay subjects Tucker's views and the broader neoconservative consensus on global egalitarianism to a critical assessment.

In recent years there has been quite a growth in the corpus of research on legislatures, so that today studies of the legislature are extant for about two dozen countries. Studies of Third-World representative assemblies have demonstrated a remarkable degree of “linkage” between legislators and constituents. Alongside research on European and Asian legislatures, these inquiries make possible a better understanding of the contributions of legislative institutions to political integration. More generally, the accumulating literature on legislatures permits the construction of functional typologies which are more empirically adequate than earlier ones.