Group theory and political culture: a review Joseph La Palombara, Interest Groups in Italian Politics

This study is one of the most important works on Italian politics in any language. It is also a major contribution to the literature of comparative politics and group theory. Consequently, it should be of interest not only to students of Italian politics but to all who are interested in systematic compara-tive analysis as well. One of the deadly enemies of grand theory is empirical research. If the theory is sufficiently vague it runs no risk of being subjected to rigorous empirical testing. At the same time, if it is unlikely to be very useful to empirical researchers, it is almost certain to be ignored by them