The contours of the school choice debate are by now familiar to public policy students, but a lack of agreement about the appropriate weights to be given to the variables affecting the subject continues to splinter their ranks. On the surface, there appears to be a consensus that the latest scores on standardized tests will resolve the uncertainty as to which type of education, public or private, is most effective, but a dip into the literature quickly dispels any such hope. The only thing clear is that nonpublic schools, even with one financial hand tied behind them, do not perform any more poorly than public ones. Consequently, Viteritti wisely gives short shrift to the byzantine methodological distinctions made by re- searchers and, instead, focuses on the normative questions.

Russell L. Riley offers an insightful account of how American presidents have grappled with race. His main concern is the causal forces that shape the institutional role of the presi- dency in American politics. The discussion centers specifi- cally upon the determinants of presidential policy that affects the advancement of African Americans toward first-class citizenship. Riley asks what operative dictates and constraints shape presidential behavior vis-a -vis racial inequality politics.

Upon receiving Jerald Waltman's book, the first thing I read was the dedication to the author's "coworkers at A. & W. Root Beer, Ruston, Louisiana, 1963­67." I like root beer, but I wondered whether a mistake had been made in sending me this book to review. It did not take long to realize no mistake had been made. This is a book that treats minimum wage as symbolic politics, but, more important, it entirely reexamines public policy.

The study of political campaigns has an awkward place in political science. At one level, we have grown to accept that "campaigns matter." A growing literature now provides many different tests of this proposition. At another level, a cliche? sometimes mouthed by campaign professionals and journal- ists is that 90% of what campaigns do does not matter-it is the remaining 10% that is critical. The relative accuracy of these proportions aside, this cliche? raises an important question: What is the critical part of modern campaigns that "matters"?

With the exception of Jane Mansbridge's important and groundbreaking analysis of "Shelby," Vermont (Beyond Ad- versary Democracy, 1980), published scientific investigation of face-to-face democracy in the New England town meeting is almost nonexistent. Thus, Zimmerman's volume is not part of a genealogy of scholarship on what I call "real" democracy, to distinguish it from the direct democracy of referenda and initiatives with which it is often confused. For many years his interest has been what he terms (accurately) "law-making by assembled citizens." Given the general misuse of the term town meeting by politicians (which began with Carter and was perfected by Clinton), intent on cloaking a variety of self-serving public relations ploys in the robes of "pure" democracy, Zimmerman provides at the very least a much needed reality check for political scientists. In fact, in the popular American lexicon (and even in the understandings of many political scientists) town meeting has taken on a totally new meaning, as exemplified in Andrew Fergurson's essay ("Ye Olde Town Meeting Gimmick," Time, March 2, 1998).

Darrell West argues that elections, rather than stimulate debate over ideas and policies, have degenerated into con- tests in which candidates try to raise more and more money. The cost of campaigns has skyrocketed, the level of cynicism and apathy among voters has increased, and the perceived accountability of elected officials has been placed at risk.

John F. Witte has been prominent in the academic discourse surrounding market-like reforms of public education. In the two-volume Choice and Control in American Education (1990), Witte and his coeditor, William S. Clune, assembled an impressive collection of analytical essays and literature reviews that highlighted relevant theoretical concerns and showcased the insights from practice available at the time. In September 1990, Witte was appointed the state's evaluator of the pioneering Milwaukee, Wisconsin, voucher program.

In this case study of participatory democracy in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Rebecca Neaera Abers examines one aspect of the participatory democracy program implemented by the Par- tido dos Trabalhadores (PT), the Workers' Party, in Porto Alegre: the participatory budget process. In that process, people at the grassroots make policy decisions that the government is committed to implement. The PT took office in 1989, and Abers follows its participatory budget process from 1989 to 1997.

There is little doubt that an abiding feature of international relations in the current period is the struggle to extend the rule of law to crimes of state. The 1998 detention in Britain of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, in response to a request for extradition issued by a Spanish judge, gave prominence to this quest. This development was further reinforced by the campaign to establish a permanent inter- national criminal court, which eventuated in a treaty signed in Rome by about 120 countries two years ago and is on its way to securing the 60 ratifications needed to bring it into force. Organized international society is far from the end of this journey; powerful governments, including our own, are not ready to submit their citizens or leaders to international procedures of accountability.

Ofra Bengio's book is a scholarly and methodical endeavor to analyze the way in which Ba`thi Iraq (1968-present) has been using (or misusing) the Arabic language, symbolism, history, and myths in order to legitimize its rule and policies. Bengio demonstrates how language has been twisted and manipu- lated in an attempt to terrorize political enemies, paralyze and enchant the vast majority of the Iraqis, induce them to perform or tolerate atrocities, and risk their lives in battle for leader and country. Sometimes, the regime is entrapped in its own rhetoric. The book shows how discourse, art, and symbols have been used to construct a cult of personality for Saddam Husayn, unmatched in the contemporary Middle East.