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Published by Pacific Research Institute, 177 Post Street, San Francisco CA 94108. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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CHOICE Review

Benson (Florida State University) makes a provocative and readable but somewhat simplistic argument for the privatization of law in the US. Drawing on market economic theory, he contends that the US system of "authoritarian justice" is intended not to achieve the common good, but to satisfy interest group demands by promoting "involuntary transfers" of wealth. Dissatisfaction with the resulting waste and inefficiency, Benson says, drives people increasingly into the private sector for more effective law and justice. The detailed discussion of contract police and prison services and private courts is informative, although it may exaggerate both the extent and the efficacy of such arrangements. Benson's argument for the superiority of private over public mechanisms remains largely theoretical despite the inclusion of a large amount of illustrative data. An objective reader might well conclude that Benson makes a stronger case for supplementing public legal institutions than for displacing them. Because the book fails to address such crucial issues as the constitutional implications of privatization, it should be read as a compelling critique of the status quo rather than as a blueprint for reform. Undergraduate and graduate students. R. J. Maiman University of Southern Maine