Book Reviews : Israel's Emerging Consititution 1948-1951. By EMANUEL RACKMAN. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1955. Pp. xvi, 196. $3.00.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900134
• Date: 01 March 1956
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Author: Oscar Kraines
• Subject Matter: Articles

201

the

government.

The

political

parties

functioning

in

Guatemala

and

the

election

procedures

and

practices

of

the

1944-54

period

are

discussed.

He

gives

an

interesting

description

of

local

government

at

the

Departmental

and

Munici,pio

level

followed

by

six

case-studies

of

sample

local

govern-

ments.

In

a

short

chapter,

Professor

Silvert

presents

seven

conclusions

about

Guatemalan

government

which

he

thinks

hold

true

both

for

Guate-

mala

and

for

other

countries

of

a

similar

character.

Monographs

describing

the

actual

working

of

government

in

the

various

countries

of

Latin

America

are

greatly

needed

to

provide

the

basis

for

a

general

understanding

of

the

political

process

in

the

area.

It

is

unfortunate

that

the

political

instability

so

prevalent

in

almost

all

of

the

Latin-Ameri-

can

states

has

quickly

made

this

particular

monograph

of

only

historical

interest,

for

the

political

machinery

it

describes

no

longer

exists.

The

change

in

government

that

took

place

in

Guatemala

in

1954

led

to

the

abrogation

of

the

1945

constitution;

changed

the

electoral

system

used

from

1944

to

1954;

abolished

all

the

political

parties

he

describes;

and

exiled

the

political

leaders

about

whom

he

wrote.

Many

of

Professor

Silverts

comments

on

the

governmental

process

in

Guatemala

are

helpful

to

an

understanding

of

that

country.

A

short

bibliography,

an

index,

and

four

illustrations

increase

the

value

to

the

scholar.

University

of

Florida.

HARRY

KANTOR.

Israel’s

Emerging

Consititution

1948-1951.

By

EMANUEL

RACKMAN.

(New

York:

Columbia

University

Press.

1955.

Pp.

xvi,

196.

$3.00.)

Although

this

is

a

brief

book,

its

contents

are

detailed,

scholarly,

and

comprehensive.

The

author

is

a

practicing

orthodox

Jewish

rabbi

and

an

assistant

professor

of

political

science

at

Yeshiva

University,

New

York.

The

author

divides

his

work

into

thirteen

chapters,

beginning

with

an

account

of

the

origin

of

the

state

of

Israel

and

the

constitutional

require-

ments

specified

by

the

United

Nations.

He

proceeds

then

to

discuss

and

evaluate

the

various

proposals

for

a

constitution

and

the

attitudes

of

the

political

parties

toward

these

proposals;

the

contributions

of

the

provisional

government

to

the

development

of

a

constitution;

the

enactment

and

provi-

sions

of

the

Transition

Law

of

1949;

the

constitutional

principles

of

the

First

Knesset

as

they

involve

such

matters

as

a

bill

of

rights,

foreign

policy,

conscription,

immigration,

education,

and

civil

service;

the

constitutional

patterns

of

the

First

Knesset

as

relating

to

the

legislative

process,

budgetary

development,

treaty-making,

and

fiscal

accountability;

the

arguments

pre-

sented

for

and

against

a

written

constitution;

church-state

relationships;