POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRACTICAL POLITICS
_The purpose of this chapter is to describe how political parties
are organized, what they do, and how they do it._
[Sidenote: Parties are natural groups.]
=Why Political Parties are Formed.=—Whenever people are in control of
their government, political parties are certain to be formed. No popular
government has long continued anywhere in the world without political
parties. The reason for this is that whenever any group of people find
that they have the same opinions or the same interests they desire to
act together. If people are interested in music they organize an
orchestra or a choral society and arrange concerts. If men are
interested in trade, they organize themselves into a board of trade to
promote their mutual interests. Workmen associate themselves together in
labor unions; boys who are interested in athletics organize clubs; men
who have been in the military and naval service associate themselves
together in the American Legion, and so it goes. People who have the
same opinions, desires, ideas, and interests tend to group themselves
together, which is a perfectly natural thing for them to do.
Now large numbers of men and women have identical _political_ opinions
(or think they have) and this community of interest draws them together
into groups. Such groups we call political parties. The Republican party
is made up of men and women who believe in certain political principles
which are set forth in the party platform; the Democratic party is made
up of those who hold a different set of opinions. Whenever a large body
of people wish the government to do something which is not already being
done they soon find that the best way to achieve their end is to
organize.[50]
[Sidenote: Their first aim is to win elections.]
=The Aims of Political Parties.=—Every political party has two aims. The
first is to get control of the government; the second is to carry out
its own policy by means of this control. To do this they must nominate
candidates for office, raise funds for carrying on a campaign, and work
to elect their men. It is only by electing their own candidates for
office that they can accomplish the ends for which they are organized.
An army does not exist merely to teach men drill or discipline. Its
chief aim is to win victories. Drill and discipline are merely a means
to this end. So with a political party. Its organization, leaders,
campaign work, and all other activities have one purpose in mind,
namely, to win victories at the polls. Then, when the party has elected
its candidates and obtained control of the government it can carry its
program into effect. Occasionally a party secures its chief aim without
gaining control of the government, as the Prohibition party did in 1920.
[Sidenote: But the aim of a political party is not altogether selfish.]
=Definition of a Political Party.=—Having seen why political parties are
formed and what they aim to do we are now in a position to frame a
definition. A political party is a group of men and women who think
alike on public questions and have joined themselves together in order
to gain control of the government so that they can carry their opinions
into practice. The aim of a party is not always selfish, however, as
this definition might imply. Most members of a political party believe
that in endeavoring to get control of the government they are promoting
the public interest. Their aim is to bring into operation certain
policies which they believe will benefit the whole people. The
Democratic party urged a revision of tariff ten years ago because its
members believed that lower duties on imports would help the United
States as a whole and not because the Democrats, as distinct from the
Republicans, would derive the whole advantage. The Republicans, for
their part, have favored high duties on imports because they believe
that American industry ought to be protected against foreign
competition. Both parties seek to promote the general interest, but in
different ways.
[Sidenote: Habit is an important factor in party strength.]
=Party Divisions Tend to Become Permanent.=—Parties are originally
formed to promote a particular policy, but when they have gained control
of the government and have put their program into practice they do not
go out of existence. They continue, and people remain members of the
party, largely from force of habit. Each party takes up new ideas, gains
some new members and loses some old ones. The mill keeps on turning
although new forms of grist are brought to be ground and new workmen
guide the wheels. Men and women who reach voting age join one or another
of the parties, sometimes because they are influenced by its principles,
more often because their parents have belonged to that party. Thus it
happens that over long periods of time a party may remain strong among
the people in one section of the country and weak in another. The reason
is not that the party’s policy at the moment happens to be popular in
one area and unpopular in the other. Habit influences people in politics
as in everything else. When a man has voted several times with one
political party he is not likely to desert it even though the party’s
program changes. Not only that but his sons and daughters will probably
join the same political party. Pennsylvania has gone Republican at every
national election for more than sixty years although a wholly new set of
voters has grown up; Texas on the other hand has never failed to support
the Democratic ticket for just as long a period. The whole of the “Solid
South”, in fact, goes Democratic with unfailing regularity, and has done
so ever since the Reconstruction. A political party thus retains a
strong hold upon large bodies of voters, old and new, even though it may
change its policies from time to time.
[Sidenote: The active work of parties.]
=The Functions of Political Parties.=—Could we get along without
parties? Perhaps we could, but American government would have to be
carried on very differently if parties did not exist. If you watch an
election campaign, you will notice that several things happen in the
course of it. First, there is a great deal of public discussion about
candidates. Then, some time before the election, candidates are
nominated. Platforms are drawn up stating the things which each
candidate favors. The candidates, together with other speakers, go out
and make addresses; pamphlets are distributed broadcast giving reasons
why people should vote for one candidate or the other; meetings and
rallies are held in halls and on the street corners; the newspapers
print the arguments on the respective sides; the people are worked up to
a white heat of enthusiasm; and finally, on the day of election, the
issue is decided.
Now how would all this be done if there were no political parties?
Candidates cannot be nominated without organized effort; platforms do
not make themselves; the people cannot be stirred to an active interest
on one side or the other except by a vigorous campaign; without parties,
indeed, an election would be a very dull and uninteresting affair.
[Sidenote: Parties perform three important functions:]
The conclusion is, therefore, that political parties have various
definite functions to perform, and these may be summarized under three
heads. [Sidenote: 1. They nominate candidates and frame platforms.]
First, they nominate candidates and tell the people about them. This
information is given in their platforms, of which more will be said a
little later. [Sidenote: They rouse interest among the voters.] Second,
they rouse public interest by their rallies, their pamphlets, circulars,
articles in newspapers, and posters, as well as by personal canvassing.
This rousing of the voter is very important, because most men and women
are chiefly concerned with their own business and personal affairs. Even
after all these methods of getting them interested have been used it
will be found that two or three voters out of every ten have failed to
go to the polls on election day. What would happen if there were no
rallies, circulars, canvassers, and all the rest? In that case most of
the voters would probably manifest no interest at all, and the election
would be decided by a small portion of the people. [Sidenote: 3. They
bring the various branches of government into harmony.] Third, the
parties provide a chain which holds the various officers of the
government to a joint responsibility. We elect a great many public
officers to perform different functions. Members of the legislature are
elected to make laws; governors and other state officers to administer
these laws; and judges to help enforce them. To get the best results all
three groups of public officials must work in harmony. But if each were
elected independently and without any reference to the others, there
would be little chance of their working together. When they do work
together it is because they have been elected to carry out a common
policy. This is the chain which holds them together—allegiance to the
same political party. If every public official followed his own ideas,
we should have one set of men making the laws and another set of men
throwing obstacles in the way of their enforcement.[51]
If there were no political parties, something else would have to be
organized to take their place. The things which the party does must be
done somehow. We cannot have democratic government unless candidates are
nominated, platforms framed, public interest aroused, and officials
encouraged to work together in a common cause. Political parties do not
always perform these functions well, but what sort of organization would
be likely to manage them any better?
[Sidenote: The political “factions” of early days.]
=When and How did Political Parties Begin?=—It is difficult to say how
or when political parties originated. Someone once remarked that even at
the time of the Flood there were two political parties, namely, the
Deluvians and the Antedeluvians. John Adams declared that “parties began
with human nature”. In a sense he was right. Anyone who has read Roman
history will remember the long and bitter struggle between the
patricians and the plebeians. The Guelphs and Ghibellines of the Middle
Ages were political parties although their rivalry often assumed the
form of open warfare. The Cavaliers and Roundheads of Cromwell’s time
armed themselves and fought for the control of the government with
muskets and sabres, not with ballots. They were parties, dynastic
parties. But the violent conflict of parties eventually gave way to
orderly contests at the polls, and men found that they could belong to
different political parties without thereby becoming personal enemies of
one another. So Whigs and Tories arose in England before the American
Revolution, and corresponding groups were to be found in the thirteen
American colonies.
[Sidenote: The first American parties.]
But the real history of political parties in the United States did not
begin until after the adoption of the constitution, when Hamilton and
Jefferson became leaders of opposing elements among the people. Hamilton
and his followers, the Federalists, desired to strengthen the central
government; Jefferson and his supporters, calling themselves
Democratic-Republicans, desired to keep the central government weak and
to place the balance of power in the hands of the states. In the end
Jefferson’s party obtained the upper hand, but by having things too much
its own way finally lost its solidarity and split into several factions.
Party politics gave way for a time to personal politics, the voters
ranging themselves behind leaders rather than principles; but presently
the various factions consolidated into two parties known as Whigs and
Democrats. The Whig party eventually went to pieces and in its place
arose the Republican organization which elected Lincoln in 1860. Since
that date the Democrats and Republicans have continued to be the two
leading parties.
[Sidenote: The distinction between principles, policies, and issues.]
=What the Leading Political Parties Stand for.=—The general ideas upon
which the members of a political party agree are incorporated into its
platform and are commonly known as the party’s _principles_. For
example, a party may pledge itself to the principle of promoting foreign
trade, or conserving the natural resources of the country, or keeping
aloof from the affairs of Europe. The methods by which these principles
are to be carried into effect constitute the party’s _policy_. The
principle of promoting foreign trade, to take an example, may be carried
into effect by lending money or credit to exporters, as was done after
the World War. But the different parties do not usually agree upon
either principles or policy, and this divergence gives rise to party
_issues_ or points of conflict between the parties.
It is not easy to set forth in concise form the principal issues. During
the campaign of 1916 the attitude of the United States towards the great
European conflict was the pivot of attention; in 1920 the question
whether America should or should not enter the League of Nations crowded
most of the other issues into the background. The main planks in party
platform change from one election to another.[52] During the past twenty
years the platforms of both parties have dealt with a wide variety of
matters; but the disagreement between the two parties has not always
been clean-cut and in some cases it has left the voter little to choose
between them. On some matters the two leading platforms are openly
opposed; on others they are very much alike, and on some others, again,
they are so ambiguous that it is difficult to tell just where they
differ. As a practical matter it is not always wise to take an
absolutely definite stand in the party platform, for conditions may
change and by so doing place the party in the position of having pledged
something which ought not, in view of the changed conditions, to be
carried out.
=The Minor Parties.=—Americans, on the whole, have accepted the
two-party system. The great majority of voters are either Republicans or
Democrats. Nevertheless the platforms of these two parties never suit
all the people and the result is that minor parties, or “third” parties
as they are sometimes called, come into existence from time to time.
During the past hundred years a dozen or more of these minor parties
have been formed but with two or three exceptions they have soon melted
away.[53] These exceptions are the Prohibition party, which was
organized in 1872 for the purpose of securing the complete suppression
of the liquor traffic in the United States. The adoption of the
Eighteenth Amendment gave this party the chief thing that it had been
contending for, but it has not yet gone out of existence. The Socialist
party is the other example of a “third party” which has continued to be
active for a considerable period.
[Sidenote: Why “third parties” rarely survive.]
In the United States minor parties do not usually live long. Very few of
them survive a dozen years. There are reasons for this. In the first
place the Democrats and Republicans are constantly adapting their
platforms to the needs of the country. When any movement among the
people becomes strong enough, one of the leading parties takes it up. If
large numbers of voters, for example, should desire the abolition of
divorces, one of the political parties would soon put an “anti-divorce
plank” in its platform, and would thereby prevent any new party from
making much headway on that particular issue. In the second place the
American voters, taking them as a whole, have become accustomed to the
two-party system. Very few of them are willing to forsake the old party
organizations without strong reasons for doing so. When they do,
temporarily, as a great many Republicans did in 1912 and a great many
Democrats in 1920, they usually drift back again before very long. A new
party, moreover, is difficult to organize and expensive to maintain. It
has no chance to win the election and most people do not care to belong
to an organization which never wins. So the easiest way to get new
things adopted in public policy is to persuade one of the leading
parties to champion them.
[Sidenote: The Socialist platform.]
=The Socialist Party.=—Among the “third parties” which exist at the
present day the Socialist party is the strongest. It has a program
widely different from that of either the Republicans or the Democrats.
The Socialist party is organized to promote the public ownership of
railroads, telegraphs, telephones, mines, forests, factories, and all
other such economic instrumentalities. In addition to its economic
program the Socialist party advocates the adoption of various political
changes such as the abolition of the United States Senate, the election
of all judges for short terms, and the abolition of the Supreme Court’s
power to declare laws unconstitutional. In point of strength at the
polls the Socialist party stands far below either of the two leading
parties. It is much weaker in the United States than in the various
countries of Europe.
[Sidenote: Is “independence” a virtue?]
=The Voter’s Relation to Parties.=—So long as political parties are
essential in representative government, and so long as they perform
useful functions, it is the duty of every citizen to affiliate with some
political party if he can honestly do so. There are times, of course,
when the voter of independent views cannot honestly support any of the
existing parties. On this point every voter must make his or her own
individual decision. There is no inherent virtue in being an
“independent”; for if every voter persisted in assuming that attitude,
there would be no political parties at all, and democracy would in the
long run suffer rather than gain as a result. Most voters, as a matter
of fact, belong to one of the leading parties and support the candidates
of this party at every election. They are commonly called the regular
members of the party. But membership in a political party does not mean
that one is under obligation to support that party under all
circumstances. It is possible to belong to a political party and yet
retain a reasonable degree of independence. A political party gains,
indeed, by having in its ranks a sprinkling of men and women who know
their own minds on political questions and will not tamely follow
wherever the party chiefs may lead.
[Sidenote: The need of party leadership and discipline.]
Let us remember, however, that a political party, like an army, requires
discipline and leadership for its success. If every soldier insisted on
following his own inclinations rather than the advice or orders of his
officers, he would never be on the winning side in any battles. So, if
every voter declines to be led by anyone’s counsel but his own, there
will be no unity of party effort and no real triumph of one set of
principles over another. To secure any substantial improvement in
government, large groups of men and women must pull together. This means
that they must have a platform, an organization, and capable leaders,
which is equivalent to saying that they must act as a political party.
[Sidenote: The citizen’s duty.]
=Parties are What the People Make Them.=—The choice of a political party
is one of the means by which the citizen in a democracy exercises his
sovereign power. A political party is merely what its members make it.
No chain is stronger than the links which compose it; and no political
party ever represents a higher grade of intelligence or patriotism than
its members provide. If a political party becomes selfish or corrupt,
the remedy lies in the hands of the people. Honest men and women will
then desert that party; it will fail to win elections, and ultimately go
to pieces. On the other hand if a political party is honest in its
principles, wise in its policy, patriotic in its ideals, and progressive
in its sympathies, it will draw recruits from among the thousands of men
and women who reach voting age each year. It will grow in strength. The
voter can best display his zeal as a citizen by joining a party and
helping to make it a power for good.
[Sidenote: Organization helps to win victories.]
=The Need for Party Organization.=—Organization is the watchword of
every political party. Without organization there is no chance to win
elections and put the party’s policies into operation. Very little is
ever achieved in this world without coöperation. However competent an
individual may be, there are limits to what he can do. It is not the
brilliant player that wins the game, but the well-trained team. Napoleon
Bonaparte once said that organization and discipline counted for
seventy-five per cent of victory. These things are quite as important in
politics as in war.
Organization, in party politics, involves three things, leadership,
coöperation, and money. No party is well-organized unless it possesses
all three. For this reason every strong political party uses care in
selecting its leaders, builds up a system of party conventions and party
committees, and raises campaign funds to pay the necessary expenses of
its work.
=Local Party Organization.=—Let us see how this organization is
effected. Beginning at the bottom each party has its local committees.
These committees are generally chosen by the voters of the party at the
primary elections, and they have charge of the party interests in the
town or township, county or district, as the case may be. In the large
cities there is a committee for each ward and a general committee
covering the whole city. These local committees arrange for political
meetings in their own neighborhood and help to bring out the voters on
election day. They work in harmony with the state committee.
=State Party Organization.=—Next come the state organizations. The party
organization in the states consists of a state central committee and a
state convention. [Sidenote: The state committee.] The members of the
state committee are sometimes elected by the voters in the various
congressional or state senatorial districts; sometimes they are named by
the county conventions, and occasionally they are chosen by the state
convention. The committee’s functions are to issue the call for
conventions (or in some states for primaries), to raise and spend the
campaign funds in state elections, to arrange the plans for the state
campaign, and to supervise so far as practicable the work of the local
committees. [Sidenote: The state convention.] The state convention is
made up of a large body of delegates who are directly elected by the
party voters or chosen by the district or county conventions. It meets a
short time prior to each state election and one of its chief duties is
to prepare the party’s platform.[54] Each political party holds its own
convention.
[Sidenote: The national convention.]
=National Party Organization.=—In the early years of the Republic,
candidates for the presidency were nominated by congressional caucuses,
that is, by meetings of the party’s representatives in Congress. But
this method was discarded about 1824 and in due course national party
conventions were called to make these nominations. At present these
national conventions meet every four years, during the summer preceding
the presidential election. Republicans, Democrats, Prohibitionists, and
Socialists all hold their own conventions. In the case of the two
leading parties the conventions are made up of delegates from every
state and territory, these delegates being directly chosen at primaries
or named by the state conventions. The national conventions choose the
candidates for the presidency and the vice presidency. They also frame
the party platforms, this work being done through committees.
[Sidenote: The national committee.]
The chief permanent organ of each party is a national committee made up
of one member from each state, who is either chosen by the voters at the
primary election or selected by the delegates from the state to the
national convention. The national committee chooses its own chairman,
who has general charge of the party’s interests in the campaign; but in
making its choice the national committee usually defers to the wishes of
the party’s presidential candidate.
=How the National Party Convention does its Work.=—The national party
conventions usually meet in some large city, such as Chicago, St. Louis,
Baltimore, or San Francisco. [Sidenote: The convention hall.] An
enormous auditorium is needed for the gathering because a national
convention consists of nearly a thousand delegates and an equal number
of alternates. Among bodies which have to do with government the
national party convention is the largest in the world. The delegates are
seated by alphabetical order of the states, Alabama first and Wyoming
last, each state having its delegates grouped together. Large placards
or banners show where each state is placed. [Sidenote: What a national
convention is like.] The delegates are arranged in the front part of the
hall, the alternates in the rear. Whenever a delegate leaves the
auditorium an alternate goes forward to sit in his place. The galleries
are filled with spectators and there is a huge bustle going on all the
time. It is hard for the speakers to make themselves heard, as only a
thunder-voiced orator can make his words rise above the din which goes
on continually. At times, when a popular candidate appears, there is a
general pandemonium. A band starts around the aisles, playing as it
goes. Delegates fall in behind the band, cheering and shouting. For half
an hour, perhaps longer, this racket continues. Then the noise subsides
and the convention gets back to its work—until the next commotion
begins.
[Sidenote: The balloting.]
After various names have been proposed, the convention begins to ballot.
If no candidate receives a sufficient majority, another ballot is taken.
In the Republican convention the successful candidate must get a
majority of all the delegates; in the Democratic convention the
requirement is two thirds. When there are several candidates in the
running, many ballotings are sometimes required. Day after day the
voting goes on, if necessary, until somebody wins.[55] The weaker
candidates drop out; the stronger ones keep gaining, until finally the
fight narrows down to two or three and the victor emerges. Then the
tired delegates rush through the remaining business and start for home.
[Sidenote: Reasons for the existence of machines.]
=The Party Machine.=—The active workers in these conventions and
committees make up what is called the “machine”. It is called a machine
because all its parts work smoothly together in the effort to obtain the
desired result, which is to win the election. There are party
organizations in other countries, but party “machines” exist only in the
United States. Various reasons account for this. One is the frequency of
elections, which creates a class of professional politicians. There are
more elections in the United States than in any other country. Another
reason is the organizing power of the American people, and the zeal with
which they throw themselves into an election campaign. The practice of
giving the appointive offices to leaders of the victorious party also
has something to do with it. Many men give their time and energy to
electioneering because they expect to get favors in return.
The function of the “machine” is to serve the party, and through the
party to serve the people. But the “machine” often goes beyond this
purpose. [Sidenote: How they lead to abuses.] Its leaders, finding
themselves in control of great power, are tempted to use it for their
own personal profit and advantage. They become arbitrary, dictating what
shall go into the party platform and who shall be nominated. The party
leader who does this becomes a party “boss”, and when groups of bosses
control the party they are commonly known as “rings”.
[Sidenote: What is a “boss”?]
=Rings and Bosses.=—The “boss” in politics is just like any other kind
of boss. His will is law, so far as all his underlings are concerned.
The difference between a party leader and a party boss is that the
leader is chosen by the free action of the party and exercises his
functions openly, while the boss usurps the control of his party and
utilizes it for his own ends without assuming any open responsibility.
[Sidenote: Why bosses are dangerous.] The leader leads and the boss
drives. Party leaders are necessary to good party organization, but the
party “boss” is a menace to the best interests of the party and to the
cause of honest government. Great power must sometimes be placed in the
hands of one man; but care should be taken that every man who wields
great power in a democracy is made responsible for the use of this
authority. Power, when checked by responsibility, is not dangerous. A
party “boss” is dangerous because he has the power and abuses it. He
controls a great “machine” without being accountable to anybody even
when he directs it against the public interest. He gives favors to his
friends and the public pays the bills.
[Sidenote: How “rings” are formed.]
Rings are groups of bosses and are more dangerous because they are
stronger. Four or five unscrupulous men working together are stronger
than one working alone. So when bosses unite, they are often able to
nominate whomsoever they please and to secure the election of
incompetent or supine men. Rings and bosses operate largely in city and
state government because the opportunity to gain control there is much
greater than in national affairs. The smaller the election district, the
more chance the boss has for making himself the master of it. The people
as a whole cannot spend much time over politics; the boss is always at
work, from one end of the year to the other. He makes friends with
everybody who can help him. He is always ready to do favors. Then, when
election day comes, he expects his friends to stand by him.[56]
[Sidenote: Party revenue.]
=How Parties are Financed.=—The work which political parties do, such as
holding conventions, framing platforms, and conducting a campaign
requires a great deal of money. Expenses that are necessary and quite
legitimate have to be met. No organization can hold together on an empty
pocketbook. So money has to be obtained, and the only way of raising it
is by voluntary contributions, for the political parties have no right
to tax anyone. Where does the money come from? It comes largely from
members of the party who respond to the call for subscriptions sent out
by their leaders. People who are well-to-do often give considerable sums
although party leaders feel that it is not good policy to accept very
large contributions from any one man because this may give rise to a
suspicion that the subscriber hopes to get some political favor in
return. The party leaders prefer to obtain the essential funds from a
great multitude of small donors who prove their loyalty to the party in
this way. [Sidenote: Party expenditures.] A national campaign costs each
of the chief parties a large sum, several million dollars nowadays.[57]
State and local campaigns cost a great deal less. The money is spent for
the publication and mailing of campaign literature, for the traveling
expenses of speakers, for hire of meeting-places, and for a great many
other things which go to make up an election campaign.[58] The speakers
and the party workers usually give their services freely, but the party
must furnish the money to defray their expenses.
=The Reform of Party Organization.=—It will be seen, therefore, that
although political parties are necessary and useful organizations in a
democracy, they often develop serious abuses when left free from
official control. For this reason the organization and work of the
political parties should be regulated by provisions of law. Such
provisions have already done much to eliminate boss rule and to improve
the party system. Some people feel that political parties ought to be
abolished altogether but that suggestion is impractical. The abolition
of parties would not make government any more democratic, or more
honest, or more efficient. The work which the parties now perform must
be performed by some organizations of voters, somehow, and if parties
were abolished something similar under a different name would have to be
created to do this work. [Sidenote: Parties must not be abolished but
improved.] What we need is not the abolition of parties but the
improvement of party organization and party methods. Realizing that
parties can be useful we should give them scope for usefulness but
restrict their opportunities for evil. This is what the laws are now
doing. They aim to make party leaders responsible, to make party
nominations fair, and to make party finance honest.
General References
P. ORMAN RAY, _Political Parties and Practical Politics_, pp. 3-12;
A. LAWRENCE LOWELL, _Public Opinion and Popular Government_, pp. 57-85;
JAMES A. WOODBURN, _Political Parties and Party Problems in the United
States_, pp. 465-470;
M. OSTROGORSKI, _Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties_,
pp. 225-281;
W. B. MUNRO, _Government of the United States_, pp. 312-356;
MOORFIELD STOREY, _Problems of Today_, pp. 1-53;
W. W. WILLOUGHBY and LINDSAY ROGERS, _Introduction to the Problem of
Government_, pp. 127-150.
Group Problems
=1. The political doctrines of leading American statesmen=: Hamilton,
John Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster.
=References=: _Cyclopedia of American Government_, _passim_; C. E.
MERRIAM, _American Political Theories_ (see index).
=2. Minor political parties—their rise and fall.= =References=: JAMES A.
WOODBURN, _Political Parties and Party Problems_, pp. 133-148; P. ORMAN
RAY, _Political Parties and Practical Politics_, pp. 40-68; F. E.
HAYNES, _Third Party Movements Since the Civil War_, pp. 221-260; E. B.
STANWOOD, _History of the Presidency_, _passim_.
=3. The organization of political parties in a typical state of the
Union.= JESSE MACY, _Party Organization and Machinery_, pp. 96-132;
JAMES BRYCE, _American Commonwealth_, Vol. II, pp. 76-81; W. B. MUNRO,
_Government of the United States_, pp. 483-487.
=4. The national party conventions.= C. A. BEARD, _American Government
and Politics_, pp. 166-172; P. S. REINSCH, _Readings on American Federal
Government_, pp. 826-845; P. ORMAN RAY, _Political Parties_, pp.
145-167; J. A. WOODBURN, _Political Parties_, pp. 165-214; F. W.
DALLINGER, _Nominations for Elective Office_, pp. 74-92; C. L. JONES,
_Readings on Parties and Elections_, pp. 80-105; T. H. MCKEE, _National
Conventions and Platforms_, _passim_; E. B. STANWOOD, _History of the
Presidency_, _passim_.
=5. The platforms of the various parties in 1920: an analysis and
comparison.= _World Almanac_ (1921). Also the _Campaign Text Books_
issued by the party organizations.
Short Studies
1. =Campaign methods.= P. O. RAY, _Political Parties_, pp. 255-267.
2. =Party loyalty and political independence.= J. A. WOODBURN,
_Political Parties_, pp. 295-303.
3. =The Progressive Party: its history and platform.= S. J.
DUNCAN-CLARK, _The Progressive Movement_, _passim_.
4. =Tammany Hall.= GUSTAVUS MYERS, _History of Tammany Hall_, pp.
267-298; _Encyclopedia Americana_, Vol. XXVI, pp. 235-237.
5. =The boss as a personality.= M. OSTROGORSKI, _Democracy and Political
Parties_, pp. 250-263.
6. =The Tweed Ring.= J. F. RHODES, _History of the United States_, Vol.
VI, pp. 392-411.
7. =How the machine works.= THEODORE ROOSEVELT, _Autobiography_, pp.
61-101; 144-184; 185-222.
8. =The nationalizing influence of parties.= HENRY J. FORD, _Rise and
Growth of American Politics_, pp. 150-161.
9. =Municipal political parties.= M. R. MALTBIE, in _Proceedings_,
National Municipal League, VI, pp. 226_ff._
10. =The reform of party organization.= F. A. CLEVELAND, _Organized
Democracy_, pp. 228-261.
Questions
1. Can you improve the definition of a political party given in this
chapter?
2. Among the various functions of political parties which do you
consider the most important, and why?
3. Why do political parties refrain at times from making their platform
pledges more definite? What new proposal would you like to see inserted
in a party platform?
4. Account for the fact that constitutional questions played a more
important part in American politics prior to 1860 than since that date.
5. Give brief sketches of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, and
Whig parties and their work before the Civil War.
6. Explain why the “mortality rate” among “third parties” has been so
high. Account for the fact that some of these parties have survived a
considerable period of time while others have not.
7. Make an outline showing the type of party organization used in your
own state.
8. Prepare a list of things for which money can be legally expended by
political parties during an election campaign.
9. If you were a voter, to which political party would you belong? Give
your reasons.
10. What are the important points to be emphasized in discussing the
reform of party organization? Name some reforms which you think would be
advantageous.
Topics for Debate
1. Municipal elections should be conducted on party lines.
2. The campaign expenses of presidential candidates should be paid from
the national treasury.
3. A three-party system would be preferable in this country to the
present two-party organization.