Book Reviews : The Conseil d'État in Modern France. By CHARLES E. FREEDEMAN. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961. Pp. ix, 205. $5.00.)

• Published date: 01 December 1961
• Date: 01 December 1961
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296101400422
• Subject Matter: Articles

977
From one point of view the &dquo;Suez Affair&dquo; is a partial answer. Did this not reflect
the dangerous dependence upon the expertise of the top man? This seems to be
the direction of governments, and it is doubtful that the parliamentary system will
deter the trend.
When
political parties do not produce capable leadership a diagnosis and rem-
edy must go beyond the formal governmental structure to the nature of the parties
and, in fact, the entire political system. In part, Finer does this. While we could
agree that the formal structure does produce types of groups and personalities
participating in the political process, the problems he raises go beyond the Presi-
dency to the economic and social system. Therefore, the remedy seems inadequate.
Professor Finer’s book is more than a comprehensive statement of the prob-
lems of the Presidency. It is concerned with the problems that he sees facing
the entire society. It is regrettable that his proposed solution is limited to a varia,
tion of the parliamentary system.
MYRON Q. HALE
Ohio State University
The Conseil d’État in Modern France. By CHARLES E. FREEDEMAN. (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1961. Pp. ix, 205. $5.00.)
This brief monograph, number 603 of the Columbia University Studies in the
Social Sciences, presents to American readers an opportunity to become ac,
quainted with an interesting and valuable French institution, the Conseil d’Etat,
which has developed with popular government in France. As governmental
activities, legislative and regulatory, have grown in the modern period, so have
the contacts between the state and the individul, and it is to these two develop-
ments that the Conseil has directed its activities. The Conseil’s major role in
formulating the increased volume of legislation and executive regulations, and its
role as a court which adjudicates conflicts between the individual and the state
makes it of great importance to modern institutional development in France.
Amidst the...