Bibliographical Material on Political Parties and Pressure Groups in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa

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Josephine F. Milburn; Taylor Cole (1957). Bibliographical Material on Political Parties and Pressure Groups in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The American Political Science Review, Vol. 51, No. 1. American Political Science Association.

Type	journal article
Scope	Wider apartheid literature
Method	synthesis review
Period studied	1900–1956
Regions	South Africa, Australia, New Zealand
Themes	politics ideology elections, unions strikes, business and state, methods data sources, origins segregation
Citation key	milburn1957

Argument

This is a bibliographical article listing the most significant English-language writings on political parties and pressure groups in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It adds brief appraisals of some works and notes where source materials (party records, theses, private collections) can be found. The South Africa section, about five pages, surveys works on the main white parties, the Nationalist racial policy, employers' groups such as the Chamber of Mines, and trade unions. The authors conclude that South African party politics is under-studied because scholars have been preoccupied with racial problems. They also say that none of the three countries has had interest groups studied along the lines of Truman.

Evidence and method

Secondary books, articles, unpublished theses, party documents and reports, government publications (e.g. the Tomlinson Commission summary, Carnegie poor white report), newspapers and periodicals, and addresses of party offices and private collections. The 1957 compilation draws on the authors' own fieldwork and on advice from named scholars.

Place in the debates

• Liberal vs revisionist on apartheid and growth (see Liberal vs revisionist: was apartheid functional or dysfunctional for capitalist growth?). Not engaged; this is a 1957 bibliography that predates the debate. It does separate SABRA's government views on apartheid from the SAIRR's opposing views.
• Adequacy of the scholarly literature on South African politics. The authors argue that preoccupation with racial problems has left few comprehensive studies of parties and pressure groups, and that all aspects of South African party politics merit further research.

Findings

• The authors state the aim of the bibliography as listing key English-language writings on parties and pressure groups and indicating where source materials can be found. (p. 2)

  The purpose of this bibliography is to list the most significant writings in English on parties and pressure groups in these Commonwealth countries

• South African politics is described as shaped by Afrikaner-British rivalry and racial conflict, with only white parties politically effective. (p. 16)

  Only European parties have been politically effective.

• The Labour Party's policy of protecting white labour from African influx is documented in the 'Civilised Labour Policy' literature. (p. 17)

  The policy of the Party to protect white labor from the influx of natives is reflected in the discussion in "The Civilised Labour Policy,"

• The Carnegie Commission's poor white report is cited as a key source on the economy and the state. (p. 20)

  the comprehensive report of the Carnegie Commission of investigation on the poor white question in South Africa, The Poor White Problem in South Africa

• The Tomlinson Commission report is characterised as one approach to native affairs that corresponds in part to Nationalist views. (p. 18)

  The extensive report of the Tomlinson Commission outlines one approach towards improvement of native affairs, which corresponds in part to the Nationalist views

• The Chamber of Mines is singled out as the example of a politically effective employers' group. (p. 20)

  An example of a politically effective employers' group is the Chamber of Mines.

• SABRA and SAIRR are presented as the two opposing institutional voices on racial policy. (p. 19)

  The South African Bureau of Racial Affairs, SABRA (P.O. Box. 238, Stellenbosch, Cape Province), presents the Government's views on apartheid in its publications.

• By 1955 the trade union movement had realigned into five major groups, split along racial and political lines. (p. 21)

  There were five major trade union groups after the recent realignment in 1955

• The authors conclude that racial preoccupation has left South African party and pressure-group scholarship thin. (p. 22)

  In South Africa, because of preoccupation with racial problems, very few comprehensive studies have been made of political parties and pressure groups.

• Interest-group analysis on the model of Truman was absent in all three countries. (p. 22)

  In none of the three countries have interest groups been studied along the lines illustrated by David B. Truman in The Governmental Process

Evidence ledger

Sources used

Source	Kind	Period	How used
Commission for the Socio-Economic Development of the Bantu Areas (Tomlinson Commission), Summary of the Report, U.G. 61/1955	commission or official report	1955	Cited as a government report whose approach to native affairs corresponds in part to Nationalist Party views; it is listed, not analysed.
Carnegie Commission, The Poor White Problem in South Africa (5 vols., 1932), with economic and educational reports	commission or official report	1932	Listed as a source on economic conditions that bears on the activities of parties in government.
Department of Native Affairs, Reports, and the monthly Bantu (Information Service)	official statistical series	1950s	Identified as the regular government publications on native affairs.
SABRA publications (News Letter, Journal of Racial Affairs, pamphlets)	newspapers periodicals	1950s	Listed as the source for the Government-aligned views on apartheid.
SAIRR periodical Race Relations, monographs and pamphlets	newspapers periodicals	1935-1955	Listed as the source for opposing views on racial affairs.
SAIRR Reference Library typescript bibliographies (party politics; Labour Party; African trade unions); Cooper's trade union bibliography 1920-1951	secondary literature compilation	1951-1955	Pointed to as unpublished finding aids for sources on parties and trade unions.
C. van den Bos, 'Elections' (United Party typescript, 1954)	election returns	1910-1954	Identified as the only compilation of party votes by district since 1910.
South African newspaper files (election votes and seats)	newspapers periodicals	1910-1955	Presented as the only place where records of votes and seat distribution are found.
The Star Library (Johannesburg) clipping file on political parties	newspapers periodicals	1920-1955	Noted as a clipping file covering all political parties since 1920.
The Times (London), coverage of South African affairs 1910-1940	newspapers periodicals	1910-1940	Recommended as good contemporary coverage of South African affairs.
South African Labour Party records (Party office, Kerk Street, Johannesburg)	union or movement records	1910-1950s	Noted as the location of party records on its early history and decline.
J. X. Merriman correspondence (South African Public Library, Cape Town) and the Smuts papers	state archives	early 20th century-1950	Located as archival sources for political questions of the period.
Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines periodical reports and newsletter The Reef	chamber of mines or recruiting records	1889-1955	Identified as the output of an employers' group described as politically effective.
Union of South Africa, Report of Select Committee on Industrial Conciliation Bill 1955	parliamentary debates	1955	Cited as listing the membership of trade unions and federations.
South African Trade Union Council, Memoranda submitted to Minister of Labour (1954-1955)	union or movement records	Dec 1954-Oct 1955	Cited as evidence of trade-union pressure on government over the Industrial Conciliation Bill and the Workmen's Compensation Act.
South African Journal of Economics, special issue 22 (March 1954), economy 1933-1954	secondary literature compilation	1933-1954	Recommended as an analysis of the economy during the periods of party rule.
Reports of the New Zealand Industrial Arbitration Courts	commission or official report	to 1950s	Cited as showing Federation of Labour pressure on the Arbitration Courts.
New Zealand Economic Survey and New Zealand Economy 1939-1951 (Government Printer)	official statistical series	1939-1956	Listed among reliable studies of the New Zealand economy.
Maoriland Worker (1910-1924), New Zealand Worker, Standard; Labour Party annual reports	union or movement records	1906-1955	Listed as the records of party founding, conferences and union events.
Australian Labor Party conference and executive records (Mitchell Library, National Library, state party offices)	union or movement records	1901-1950s	Located as repositories for Labor Party documents.
Commonwealth of Australia, Royal Commission on Espionage, Report (1955); Victoria Royal Commission on the Communist Party (1950)	commission or official report	1950-1955	Listed as sources on the history of the Communist Party.

Inference

Quantification: None.

This is an annotated bibliographical survey. It lists and briefly appraises books, theses, party and government documents and periodicals, and it notes where records are held. Its general judgments about the state of research rest on the authors' reading of the literature and on one author's fieldwork visits (the footnote says one author spent over a year in New Zealand and shorter periods in Australia and South Africa). It contains no systematic data analysis.

Key claims

Claim	Basis	Strength
In South Africa only European parties have been politically effective. (p. 16)	Asserted in the introductory framing of the South Africa section; no source cited.	Asserted
Few comprehensive studies of South African parties and pressure groups exist because scholars have been preoccupied with racial problems. (p. 22)	The authors' survey of the literature they list, with no systematic count.	Illustrative or anecdotal
The Chamber of Mines is an example of a politically effective employers' organization. (p. 20)	Asserted. The Chamber's periodical reports and newsletter are named as sources, but no evidence of its influence is given.	Asserted
The Tomlinson Commission report outlines an approach to native affairs that corresponds in part to Nationalist views. (p. 18)	Characterisation of the Commission's 1955 Summary (U.G. 61/1955) by the authors, with no analysis.	Illustrative or anecdotal
The South African Labour Party's policy aimed to protect white labour from African influx. (p. 17)	The authors cite a 1935 Race Relations article, 'The Civilised Labour Policy'; the claim is not tested.	Illustrative or anecdotal
District-level South African election results exist only in a typescript compilation, and seat and vote records are otherwise found only in newspaper files. (p. 19)	The authors' knowledge of available sources, identifying the van den Bos typescript and newspaper files.	Partial data
By 1955 South African trade unions had realigned into five major federations with differing racial and political orientations. (p. 21)	Descriptive account of the federations and their officers, with no source given beyond the 1955 Select Committee report and union memoranda.	Illustrative or anecdotal
Scholarship on Australia and New Zealand has concentrated on labour and trade-union politics and neglects non-labour parties and systematic interest-group study. (p. 22)	The authors' survey of the theses and books listed.	Illustrative or anecdotal

The author's caveats

The authors note that source availability is uneven. They say New Zealand election statistics by party are not officially printed, most Reform and United Party records are unavailable, and South African vote records are found only in newspaper files or one typescript. They also flag the bias or inaccuracy of individual works.

Gaps in the evidence

As a bibliography the article makes no empirical claims that need data, and it gives little guidance on economic sources such as the Chamber of Mines archives, census and wage statistics, or industrial legislation. For South Africa, a systematic inventory of archival holdings (Chamber of Mines, Labour Party, trade union and employer federation records) and of the official statistical series would test its judgments about research gaps. The Hansard debates, Select Committee evidence and commission reports were available at the time, and many of these records are now deposited and can be consulted.

Replicability: Not applicable.