Government is a key ingredient in Brunner's recent work. He develops his major theme, human survival, around it. He directly comments on it as part of his social criticism and frequently makes it a determining factor in his novels. This is certainly the case in [his most politically orientated novels,] The Squares of the City, Stand on Zanzibar, The Jagged Orbit, and The Sheep Look Up. All are first-rate political novels because they tell the reader something significant about politics—the activity of government….

Brunner's use of politics differs from more typical political novels like The President, All the King's Men, and Advise and Consent. They deal with the institutional decision-making centers of government, which Brunner conspicuously avoids; his analysis focuses instead upon the actual failings of government and the motives behind such failures. (p. 130)

The failure of policies, not the failure of institutions, are Brunner's concern. Readers...