AND

the politics of police reform in Argentina and Brazil in the 1990s, begins with a review of literatures on policing. ‘‘In all societies,’ ’ Hinton notes, ‘‘the police evolved in some measure out of state efforts to extend and consolidate its power and contain the disorderly effects of the ‘dangerous classes’’ ’ (p. 3). In her initial argument, Hinton posits that policing, even in consolidated democracies, rests on a contradiction. Specifically, policing, a coercive component of the state, must also protect life and property through the threat and the use of force. In Hinton’s words, the ‘‘police role in any democracy is [thus] bound to be contentious’ ’ (p. 4). The State on the Streets has twelve chapters, divided into a first part on Argentina and a second part on Brazil. Hinton’s conclusion returns to the conundrum highlighted in her introduction: Is democratic policing ‘‘a distant reality’’? Much of the data for the book’s empirical chapters comes from Hinton’s exten-sive fieldwork in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, respectively. In five chapters devoted to Argentina, Hinton uses a wealth of primary and secondary information to weave a sophisticated analysis of Argentina’s ‘‘political game,’ ’ which explains th