Book Reviews : What Price Vigilance? The Burdens of National Defense. By BRUCE M. RUSSETT. (New Haven : Yale University Press, 1970. Pp. 261. $2.45.)

• Published date: 01 December 1971
• Date: 01 December 1971
• Author: Andrew C. Tuttle
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297102400423
• Subject Matter: Articles

821
with it should be noted. First, the book does have all the limitations of a case study
(even though the authors do compare Texas on several dimensions with other
states). Second, and more seriously, there are very few quantitative data presented.
As the authors recognize and reiterate several times, systematic empirical research
on Texas politics is virtually non-existent. Hence, empirical statements about
Texas politics must frequently be based either on inferences from research on other
states or on extremely fragmentary data. Finally, while it may be related to the
absence of data, several important aspects of state politics are either ignored or
dispensed with very briefly. For example, there is virtually nothing in the book
about local politics in Texas, while the discussion of the judicial system is limited
to two pages. Given these kinds of problems, perhaps the most useful feature of
the book is that it can demonstrate to skeptical students that it is possible to discuss
state and local politics within a systematic conceptual framework -
and such a
demonstration would be no mean achievement.
WARREN A. DIXON
Texas A &
M
University
What Price Vigilance? The Burdens of National Defense. By BRUCE M. RUSSETT.
(New Haven : Yale University Press, 1970. Pp. 261. $2.45.)
This is a well-written and rather interesting study about the costs of national
security. The author examines the burdens of security from several angles in-
cluding Congress, national priorities, and alliances. After a concluding some-
what maudlin diagnosis and prognosis of military life in America, there is an ap-
pendix devoted to mathematical models of arms races written by Peter A. Busch.
The first part of the book is a noteworthy study of the military as a bureau-
cratic pressure group. A variety of votes on selected issues are analyzed in an effort
to determine the why and how of congressional responses to defense-oriented pres-
sures. Among other conclusions, Russett demonstrates...