POLITICAL PARTIES AND NOMINATING METHODS
=Nature and Functions of Political Parties.=--Political parties are
organized by groups of voters for the purpose of promoting the success
of the policies in which they believe, and in order to secure the
nomination and election of public officials who are in sympathy with
those policies. Men differ in their opinions on matters of government as
they do on matters of religion, and hence they come to constitute well
differentiated groups. Whenever such a group becomes large enough to
prosecute a concerted policy and organizes itself for the purpose of
furthering its views in governmental matters, it becomes a political
party. A political party is, therefore, composed of voters who hold
substantially the same opinions in regard to certain public questions or
certain principles of government. It is a purely voluntary organization,
however, and any voter may decline to ally himself with any party, or,
having done so, may change to another party whenever he wishes, or he
may unite with others of a like mind and form a new party. While men can
probably further the cause of good government best by means of
organization and concert of action, no citizen should think more of his
party than he does of his country, and whenever the purposes of a
political party are prostituted for other ends than the public good no
voter should feel morally bound to continue his support of such a party.
[Illustration: A NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTION]
_National Parties._--Under a system of popular government where public
policies are determined by the people and public officials are chosen by
popular election, political parties are inevitable if not essential.
Almost from the beginning, therefore, we have had political parties in
this country, each believing in certain policies and each endeavoring to
gain control of the government in order to carry out those policies. For
the promotion of policies that are national in character, such as those
relating to the tariff, the currency, or the foreign policy of the
country, national parties have been formed with organizations extending
throughout the entire country.
_Local Parties._--For the most part the organization of the national
parties extends downward through the states and their local
subdivisions, and are made use of in local as well as in national
elections. As the issues which divide the people in national elections,
however, are not always the same as those which divide them in state and
local elections, we sometimes have a realignment of parties in local
contests, and sometimes new parties of a local character are organized.
This, in fact, is to be desired for the reason that issues of a local
character ought not to be determined with reference to the views of men
on issues of a national character. It is wrong, for example, for
Democrats and Republicans who agree upon the issues involved in a
municipal election to oppose each other in such a contest merely because
they do not agree on the expediency of a protective tariff or of a gold
standard in money matters. In purely local elections national party
lines should cut no figure; local issues should be judged wholly on
their merits without reference to national questions.
=Existing Political Parties in the United States.=--At the present time
there are two great political parties in the United States, the
Democratic party and the Republican party, each with an organization
extending to every part of the country, and together including the great
majority of the voters.
_The Democratic Party._--In a general way, we may say that the
Democratic party is composed of men who believe that the sphere of the
national government should not be extended beyond what a strict
interpretation of the Federal Constitution warrants; that the rights of
the states should be interfered with as little as possible; and that the
activities of government, whether national, state, or local, should be
kept down to a minimum so that the individual shall be allowed the
largest measure of freedom consistent with the maintenance of order,
peace, and security. This party has uniformly opposed a protective
tariff, ship subsidies, imperialism, and the extension of the powers of
the national government through "constructions" of the Constitution. On
the money question the party has not always been united, though for the
most part it has opposed the single gold standard and favored a
bimetallic standard coupled with the free coinage of silver as well as
of gold.
_The Republican Party_ has contended for a liberal interpretation of the
Federal Constitution, especially those parts relating to the powers of
the national government, which it desires to see extended; it has shown
less sympathy than the Democratic party for the rights of the states; it
is the champion of the protective tariff, of internal improvements under
federal auspices, of colonial expansion, liberal pensions for soldiers
and sailors of the Civil War, of subventions for the merchant marine,
negro suffrage, and of a gold monetary standard. From the accession of
the Republican party to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham
Lincoln as President, down to 1913, it controlled the executive
department of the national government continually with the exception of
eight years when Grover Cleveland was President (1885-1889; 1893-1897).
During most of that period it controlled Congress, though several times
the Democratic party had a majority in one or the other house and
occasionally for a short time it was in the majority in both houses.
Some state governments are controlled by one party, and some by the
other. Since 1875 the Democratic party has usually been in power in
nearly all of the Southern states, and the Republican party in more than
half of the other states; but in some states control often shifts from
one party to the other.
_The Progressive Party_ was organized in 1912 mainly but not wholly by
those members of the Republican party who felt that this party was not
sufficiently progressive in its policies and that it attached rather too
much importance to the interests of special classes and too little to
the rights of the masses of the people. First of all, it advocated a
larger social and industrial justice for men and women, especially the
working classes. It favored national jurisdiction over such matters as
cannot be effectively regulated by the states; public ownership of
forests, coal and oil lands, and water power; and suffrage for women. At
the election of 1912 the new party polled a total vote of 4,100,000 for
its presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt; but a few years later
the party went out of existence.
_The Prohibition Party._--Besides the Democratic, Republican, and
Progressive parties, there are several minor parties with organizations
of a national character. The oldest of these is the Prohibition party,
organized in 1872 to promote the movement for the abolition of the
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Since its organization,
it has regularly nominated candidates for President and Vice President
of the United States, and in many states it nominates candidates for
state offices and for the legislature. Not infrequently it has succeeded
in electing some of its candidates to the legislature, and it has been
instrumental in securing the enactment of local option laws and even
state-wide prohibition laws in several states.
_The Socialist Labor Party_, organized in 1892, advocates government
ownership of land, railways, telegraph lines, and other means of
production and transportation. _The Socialist Party_, organized in 1904
mainly from the Socialist Labor party, advocates essentially the same
views. At the election of 1912 it cast about 900,000 votes throughout
the country, and in 1916 about 600,000. In 1919 a large section of the
party, composed of radicals who advocate the Bolshevist régime of
government by the working class, split off and formed the _Communist
Party_.
=Party Organization.=--Political parties, like other associations which
have ends to promote, must have organization. For the conduct of
national campaigns, each of the parties has a national organization; for
state purposes there is a state organization; and usually there are a
county and a district organization. The characteristic feature of party
organization is the use which is made of committees. The organization
everywhere consists of a committee, at the head of which is a chairman,
and which has also a treasurer and usually a secretary. The chairman is
usually an experienced political leader; sometimes he is at the same
time an office holder.
_The Convention._--The policies of the party are formulated by a
convention which is a representative gathering composed of delegates
chosen directly by the members of the party or by local conventions. The
national convention, to be described hereafter, is composed of a
certain number of delegates from each state, while the state convention
is composed of delegates chosen from the counties, the legislative
districts, or other units. The county convention is composed of
delegates from the districts into which the county is divided, and the
city convention of delegates from the wards or precincts. This is the
usual rule, but here and there are variations. The state convention
formulates the principles of the party and sets them forth in a document
called the platform; it nominates the candidates of the party, except in
those states where they are nominated by a direct primary; and it
appoints the central committee, selects the chairman, and transacts such
other business as may come before it. It is, in short, the supreme
sovereign authority of the party in the state. It is usually a large
body, sometimes comprising 1,000 or more delegates, and in Massachusetts
as many as 2,000.
_Committees._--The committee is a select body for carrying on the
campaign and attending to such other matters as may be intrusted to it.
The national committee is composed of one member from each state; the
state committee, usually of delegates from the counties or legislative
districts. The New York Republican state committee is composed of one
delegate from each congressional district in the state, while the
Democratic committee consists of one delegate from each of the fifty-one
senatorial districts of the state. Similarly, the county committee is
made up of delegates representing the political units into which the
county is divided, towns, precincts, etc. Sometimes the county committee
is a very large and representative body. The Republican committee of New
York county is made up of about 700 delegates, each delegate
representing 200 Republican voters in the county.
In the cities, there is not only the general city committee, but also a
local committee for each ward or precinct. These ward committees come
into close relation with the voters, and the success of the party
depends to a large degree upon their activity.
=Primaries.=--As soon as political parties were definitely formed it
became necessary to devise some sort of machinery for selecting the
candidates which the party desired to put forward. In the beginning
candidates for local offices were presented to the voters upon their own
announcement or by a caucus (an informal meeting of the leading men of
the party) or a primary (a mass meeting of the members of the party). In
time the caucus, except as a means of selecting candidates for offices
in legislative bodies, fell into disrepute, and the method of nomination
by a convention composed of delegates representing the party became the
accepted method. The delegates are chosen by the members of the party at
an election called a primary, so called because it is the first or
original meeting of the party voters in the process of choosing public
officials.
_Former Lack of State Control._--The calling of the primary, the manner
of conducting it, and the fixing of the party test, that is, the
determination of who may take part in the primary, are matters which for
a long time were regulated by each party according to its own notions,
without interference upon the part of the state. In short, it was
assumed that the state had no interest in the manner in which political
parties nominated their candidates, and it therefore kept its hands off.
The control of the primaries, particularly in the more populous centers,
fell into the hands of a small number of political leaders, or "bosses,"
who virtually dictated the nominations. Sometimes the primaries were
held at times or places unknown to the bulk of the members of the
party, or at inaccessible places, or in rooms inadequate to accommodate
the mass of the voters. They were sometimes packed with henchmen of
certain candidates; sometimes large numbers of the voters were kept away
by "sluggers" or were intimidated by domineering leaders; sometimes the
qualifications for participating in the primary were fixed in such a
manner as to exclude the great mass of the voters. Men of other parties
were sometimes brought in to aid in effecting the nomination of
particular candidates, ballot boxes were "stuffed" or other frauds
committed, and often the votes were fraudulently counted. In short, the
abuses became so intolerable as to create a widespread demand for the
regulation of primaries by law so that the results might more truly
represent the real opinions of the members of the party.
_State Regulation of Primaries._--Accordingly, one state after another
began to pass laws regulating the holding of primaries, on the ground
that the state was as much interested in the nomination of candidates as
it was in the election of those nominated, for it was obvious that
unless nominations were fairly made and unless the candidates selected
really represented the free choice of the people, popular government
would be at an end, since in many communities a nomination was
equivalent to an election. At first, the laws enacted by the states for
the regulation of primary elections were simple, and were designed to
prevent only a few of the worst abuses that had grown up. They usually
applied only to the large cities, and in many cases they were optional
in character, that is, they applied only to such communities as chose to
conduct their primaries in accordance with the laws thus passed.
Beginning about 1890, however, the legislatures here and there began to
enact state-wide primary laws which were mandatory upon all localities
and all parties, and applied to nominations for the great bulk of the
offices filled by popular election.
=Existing Primary Laws.=--At present nearly every state has a law
regulating in some way the holding of primary elections. In general,
these laws apply to every organized political party that cast at least a
certain number of votes at the preceding election; and they provide that
the primaries of all such parties shall be held on the same day (in some
states at the same polling places, and by the same officials that hold
the regular elections), and in accordance with the rules and safeguards
governing the regular elections. They fix the date on which the
primaries shall be held and require that due notice shall be given
thereof; they prescribe the manner of nominating delegates (and such
candidates for public office as are chosen directly by the primaries);
they provide for the use of official ballots printed at public expense;
they contain provisions in regard to the organization and powers of the
party committees, and in general they regulate everything relating to
the conduct of the primaries that would be a subject of regulation if
they were regular elections.
_The Party Test._--One of the most difficult problems in the enactment
of legislation concerning the primary election is how to prescribe
fairly the qualifications that must be possessed by those who shall be
allowed to participate in the primary. It is often embarrassing and
disagreeable for a voter when he appears at the polls to cast his vote
to be compelled to reveal his party affiliation, yet unless he is
required to do so, the adherents of one party might easily participate
in the primary of another with a view to bringing about the nomination
of its weakest candidates. Thus in a Western city some years ago where
the primary law did not require a declaration of party affiliation, a
large number of the members of one party entered the primary of the
opposite party and brought about the nomination of their weakest
candidate for mayor, and thus at the regular election the party to which
the "invaders" belonged was easily able to defeat him with its own
candidate. An "open" primary is open to any and all voters. Most primary
laws, however, insist upon a statement by the voter of his party
affiliation as a condition to participation in the primary, which is
therefore called a "closed" primary. Usually the test of membership is
that the voter must have affiliated with the party at the last election,
and sometimes he must pledge himself to support at the coming election
the candidates nominated at the primary of the party in which he
participates.
As a closed primary is an election by the members of a political party,
independents, or those who are not adherents of any party, are not
allowed to participate. This discourages reform movements by independent
voters, but there seems to be no way to remedy the matter. Sometimes an
exception is made in the primaries for the nomination of candidates for
city offices, on the ground that party lines should not be strictly
drawn in local contests and that independent movements should be
encouraged.
=Nominations by Conventions.=--Before the introduction of the method of
nominating candidates by the direct primary, to be described hereafter,
the universal method of nomination was by convention, and this is still
the prevailing method in many states.
_Preliminary Organization of a Convention._--The convention, as
previously stated, is composed of delegates chosen at a primary
election. The date and place of holding the convention are announced by
the party committee some weeks in advance. It is called to order by the
chairman of the committee, after which a temporary chairman of the
convention is elected, and not infrequently a spirited contest takes
place over the election, especially when there is likely to be a
struggle for the nomination of the principal officers which the
convention has been called to nominate. The temporary chairman, upon
taking the chair, usually delivers an address in which he extols the
party for its achievements in the past, after which usually four
committees are appointed: one on organization, one on rules, one on
resolutions, and one on credentials.
_Convention Committees._--Frequently rival delegations appear from some
county or district, and the convention must decide which one is entitled
to seats. Questions of this kind are referred to the committee on
credentials, which, after hearing both sides, reports to the convention
recommending which delegation shall be seated, and the recommendation of
the committee usually, though not always, is approved. Sometimes,
however, both contesting delegations are seated, each delegate being
allowed half a vote.
The committee on rules frames the rules of procedure by which the
business of the convention is to be transacted; its report is usually
adopted without alteration.
The committee on permanent organization proposes the names of candidates
for permanent chairman, secretary, and such other officers of the
convention as may be needed. The officers suggested by this committee
are usually elected, though sometimes the convention elects a different
ticket.
The chairman of the committee on resolutions presents a draft of the
platform, which is adopted by the convention, usually, though not
always, without change.
_The Nominations._--The convention is now ready for the chief business
for which it was called, namely, the nomination of candidates which the
party desires to put forward for the offices to be filled at the coming
election. The names of the candidates are usually presented to the
convention in highly eulogistic speeches, and the nominations are
generally seconded by one or more delegates. The balloting then proceeds
until the nominations are all made. Sometimes where more than two
candidates are placed in nomination no one of them is able to secure a
majority, and a "deadlock" ensues, lasting maybe for days or even weeks,
and terminated by the nomination of a "dark horse."
_Objections to the Convention Method._--When deadlocks occur, the "dark
horse" chosen is likely to be an inferior candidate. Another objection
to the method of nomination by convention is that the nominations are
frequently determined by a small number of leaders or "bosses" who
control the convention, and thus the nominations do not represent the
choice of the party. How a convention may be thus controlled by a few
politicians is thus stated by a careful writer who is fully conversant
with party methods:[23]
[23] Fuller, "Government by the People," pp. 61-63.
"The program of the convention, in practice, is almost always
decided upon down to the minutest detail, before the convention
meets. The party leader, or 'boss,' and his lieutenants discuss the
relative claims of candidates and decide who shall be nominated.
The party platform is written and submitted to the 'boss' for his
approval. The officers of the convention are agreed upon and their
speeches revised. All this is outside the law, which ignores the
existence of the party leader and assumes that the delegates are
free to exercise their own judgment. The real interest in the
convention is usually centered in the secret conferences of the
leaders which precede it and in which the contests over the
nominations are fought out, sometimes with much stubbornness. The
'slate' is finally made up by agreement between leaders who control
a majority of the delegates in the convention. The leaders of the
minority may either surrender or they may register their protest
by presenting the names of other candidates in the convention with
the certainty of defeat, for it is rare in state conventions that
there is so equal a division of strength as to leave the result in
doubt.
"While the leaders are settling what the convention is to do, the
delegates are left to their own devices, ignorant of what is going
on in the 'headquarters' where the leaders are assembled. They are
not consulted and their advice is not asked. It often happens that
they do not know whom they are to nominate until they hear for the
first time in the convention hall the names of the candidates
agreed upon by the leaders. Although the law gives them the right
to bring forward the names of other candidates, they seldom
exercise it, and the delegate bold enough to disobey orders is
regarded with disapproval."
=Nomination by the People: the Direct Primary.=--About 1889, because of
growing dissatisfaction with the convention system, some of the states
began to experiment with the method of popular nomination, that is,
direct nomination by the primary instead of by convention. Instead of
calling on the voters to choose delegates to a convention to which the
task of nomination was intrusted, they were now called upon to vote
directly for the candidates themselves. It was said that if the voters
were competent to choose delegates to a convention they were equally
competent to select the candidates themselves. The movement for the
direct primary, as it was called, spread rapidly particularly in the
South and West. Thus the convention has been done away with in a large
number of states except where it is still retained to frame platforms,
appoint the central committee, and select delegates to the national
convention, and in some states it has been abolished even for these
purposes, other means having been provided for taking care of these
matters.
_Objections._--The direct primary has been criticized because under it
candidates for state offices need to canvass the entire state in order
to become acquainted with the voters--a task which requires much time
and is very expensive. Such a system, it is argued, gives the candidate
of leisure and wealth a decided advantage over the poor man who cannot
afford the large expense involved.
The direct primary method, however, has given general satisfaction where
it has been adopted.
=Nomination by Petition.=--While most candidates for public office are
nominated by the recognized political parties, the laws of many states
allow candidates to be nominated also by petition of independent voters.
The procedure of nomination by petition is for the candidate or his
friends to prepare a nomination paper or petition containing the title
of the office to be filled, together with the name and residence of the
candidate, get a certain number of voters to sign it, and then file it
with the proper election officer. The number of signatures necessary to
nominate varies according to the nature of the office to be filled and
the population of the district or territory over which the jurisdiction
of the office extends. Thus in New York a petition for the nomination of
a candidate for a state office must contain the signatures of at least
12,000 legal voters (including at least 50 from each county), while in
Massachusetts 1,000 is sufficient. For the nomination of candidates for
local offices the number of petitioners required is smaller. Thus in New
York candidates for the legislature may be nominated by 500 voters; in
Massachusetts candidates for local offices may be nominated by petitions
signed by one per cent of the number of voters.
=References.=--BEARD, American Government and Politics, chs. vii,
xxx. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. xlv.
FULLER, Government by the People, chs. iv, v, xi. HART, Actual
Government, ch. v. MERRIAM, Primary Elections, chs. i, v.
=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Legislative manual or
blue book of the state. 2. Copy of the primary election law of the
state. 3. Democratic and Republican campaign textbooks. 4. Copies
of party platforms. 5. Specimen ballots. 6. Copies of delegates'
credentials, nomination certificates, petitions, etc.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Do you consider political parties essential under a system of popular
government? Would it be better if there were in each state of the Union
at least two strong political parties instead of one, as is virtually
the case in some of the Southern states as well as in some of the North?
2. Do you think every voter ought to join some political party and
support its candidates and policies? Suppose he does not approve the
candidates which it has nominated and the policies which it has adopted,
what should he do? Ought independent voting to be encouraged? If so,
why?
3. How many votes were cast by the Democratic party in your state for
governor at the last election? How many by the Republican party?
4. How is the state central committee of each party constituted in your
state? Who are the members from your county or district?
5. At what places were the last state conventions of the Democratic and
Republican parties held in your state? How many delegates were there in
each?
6. How are municipal officers nominated in your state?
7. Is there a primary law in your state? If so, what are its provisions?
8. Has the method of nomination by direct primary been introduced into
your state? If so, to what offices does it apply? How are members of
party committees selected? What test does the primary law of your state
provide for participation in the primary? Does it permit the people to
express their choice for United States senator? In what order are
candidates arranged on the primary ballot? Did a large proportion of the
voters take part in the last primary election? What is the date fixed
for holding the primary?
9. Are any officers nominated in your state by conventions?
10. If candidates are nominated by a direct primary in your state, what
is the method devised for preparing the platform of the party?