Book Reviews : The Supreme Court in a Free Society. By ALPHEUS THOMAS MASON and WILLIAM M. BEANEY. (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1959. Pp. vi, 346. $6.50.)

• Published date: 01 September 1960
• Date: 01 September 1960
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296001300335
• Author: Richard K. Burke
• Subject Matter: Articles

823

chapters

on

armies

in

a

local

or

special

ambiente,

and

good

but

even

more

casual

references

in

various

books;

but

this

study

has

given

us

a

full-dress

treat-

ment

not

only

of

the

growth

and

change

in

the

role

of

the

military

in

Latin-

American

countries

generally

and

individually,

but

also

of

the

development

of

the

military

aspects

of

the

Latin-American

policy

of

the

United

States

together

with

changes

which

the

author

believes

should

take

place

in

it.

Lieuwen’s

analysis

is

lucid

and

critical,

based

on

a

thorough

examination

of

the

available

materials

in

English,

Spanish,

and

Portuguese,

and

also

on

inter-

views

with

many

United

States

and

other

specialists.

It

carries

the

air

of

reli-

ability.

The

study

includes

a

satisfactory

explanation

of

why,

historically,

armies

have

played

the

unduly

important

part

they

have

and

why,

currently,

their

position

is

becoming

modified

by

the

changing

social

structures

of

various

Latin-

American

countries.

Lieuwen

categorizes

the

republics

in

a

way

with

which

probably

few

informed

people

will

feel

inclined

to

quarrel:

those

in

which

the

armed

forces

dominate

politics

(the

Dominican

Republic,

Nicaragua,

Paraguay,

El

Salvador,

Haiti,

Honduras,

and

Panama),

the

ones

in

which

the

armed

forces

are

in

transition

to

nonpolitical

bodies

(Cuba,

Guatemala,

Venezuela,

Peru,

Ecuador,

Argentina,

and

Brazil),

and

those

in

which

the

armed

forces

are

by

now

nonpolitical

(Columbia,

Chile,

Mexico,

Bolivia,

Uruguay,

and

Costa

Rica).

Mexico

is

given

the

palm,

and

a

separate

chapter,

as

the

state

in

which

militar-

ism

has

best

been

peacefully

deflated.

The

second

portion

of

the

book

traces,

analyzes,

and

criticizes

United

States

military

policy

as

it

has

involved

Latin

America.

The

author

hammers

home

in

cogent

fashion

the

importance

of

decreasing

progressively

the

military

assistance

extended

to

Latin-American

governments

by

Washington.

That

it

can

back-

fire

he

clearly

demonstrates.

That

it

can

equally

well

be

exploited

by

Com-

munists

he

also

points

out.

The

point

is

very

well

taken

that

a

more

construc-

tive

objective

and

policy

would

be

to

promote

a

prosperous

and

stable

Latin

America.

The

Pentagon

has

called

the

turns,

however,

and

often

shortsightedly.

Nor

does

it

help

when

the

government

bestows

medals

on

dictators:

Lieuwen

points

out

that

the

two

countries

in

which

Vice

President

Nixon

received

the

most

hostile

reception

in

1958,

Peru

and

Venezuela,

were

ones

whose

recent

dictators

had

earlier

received

awards

from

the

United

States

government.

Milton

Eisenhower

put

it

very

well

some

years

ago

when

he

recommended

a

handshake

for

the

dictators

but

an

abrazo

for

the

democrats.

University

of

California,

Los

Angeles

RUSSELL

H.

FITZGIBBON

The

Supreme

Court

in

a

Free

Society.

By

ALPHEUS

THOMAS

MASON

and

WILLIAM

M.

BEANEY.

(Englewood

Cliffs,

N.

J.:

Prentice-Hall,

Inc.,

1959.

Pp.

vi,

346.

$6.50.)

Persons

familiar

with

the

same

authors’

casebook,

American

Constitutional

Law

(now

in

its

second

edition),

will

find

little

new

in

this

book.

For,

although