  The statistical model of hadronization succeeds in reproducing particle
abundances and transverse momentum spectra in high energy collisions of
elementary particles as well as of heavy ions. Despite its apparent success,
the interpretation of these results is controversial and the validity of the
approach very often questioned. In this paper, we would like to summarize the
whole issue by first outlining a basic formulation of the model and then
comment on the main criticisms and different kinds of interpretations, with
special emphasis on the so-called "phase space dominance". While the ultimate
answer to the question why the statistical model works should certainly be
pursued, we stress that it is a priority to confirm or disprove the fundamental
scheme of the statistical model by performing some detailed tests on the rates
of exclusive channels at lower energy.
