Elections
The election day.
How an Election is Held.—The date on which an election is held is fixed by law. National elections always take place on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.[[43]] State elections are usually, although not always, held on the same date. Local elections take place on such dates as the state laws or city charters provide. It is usually thought best that local elections shall not be held on the same day as the state or national elections because of a desire to keep national and state politics out of local affairs. When national, state, and local elections are held on the same day the tendency is for the voters to focus their whole attention on national and state issues, giving very little attention to the problems of their own communities. The names of candidates for the local offices are away down near the bottom of the ballot where they appear relatively unimportant. Separate elections involve additional expense, however, and increase the number of times a voter has to come to the polls.[[44]]
Polling places and poll officers.
The voting is done at polling places, one or more of which are located in each precinct. The precinct is a small division of the county, town, or city; as a rule it does not contain more than four or five hundred voters. The polling place is in charge of officials, commonly known as poll-wardens or inspectors, who are appointed by the state or local authorities. They are assisted by clerks. The duty of these various officials is to open the poll, give ballots to persons who are registered and to no others, count the votes after the poll is closed, and report the results to the authorities who are in charge of the elections. They are responsible for the lawful and honest conduct of the polling. Each party is also allowed to have one or more “watchers” at the polling place and these watchers have the right to challenge any person whom they believe to be an impostor. When anyone is challenged he may take oath that he is entitled to vote, in which case he will be given a ballot; but such ballots are counted separately. When a voter receives a ballot, his name is checked off the voters’ list. Various stalls or booths are provided, into one of which the voter then goes and marks his ballot privately. Having finished marking it he folds the ballot and hands it to one of the polling officials who, in the presence of the voter, deposits it in the ballot box. Polls are kept open during designated hours, usually from six or seven o’clock in the morning until five or six o’clock in the afternoon.
History of balloting.
The Ballot.—The history of the ballot in the United States is interesting. |1. Oral voting.| Originally all votes were given orally. The voter came to the polling place, stated his choice aloud and the poll officials wrote it down. The objection to this plan was that it precluded secrecy and left the voters open to intimidation. Then paper ballots came into use, each party providing ballots for its own members. |2. The party ballot.| Outside the polling place, at each election, stood a group of party workers each armed with a handful of ballots, which were distributed to the voters as they came. This method also was objectionable. |Objections to the party ballot.| It encouraged the voting of a “straight party ticket”, in other words it took for granted that everyone wished to vote for the entire slate of party candidates without exception. If the voter desired to do otherwise, it was necessary for him to scratch out the unacceptable names and write others in. Most voters would not go to this trouble. This method of balloting was not secret, because a voter could be watched from the time he received his ballot outside the polling place until he deposited it in the box. This was an encouragement to bribery and intimidation. It also facilitated fraud at elections since there was no limit upon the number of ballots printed by the parties and it was not difficult for dishonest voters or corrupt officials to slip extra ballots into the box. This abuse, known as “stuffing” the ballot box could only be prevented by having all the ballots officially printed. When a definite number of official ballots is given to each polling place every ballot must be accounted for.
3. The Australian ballot.
In nearly all the states, therefore, an official ballot is now used. This is commonly known as the Australian ballot. Usually the names of all the candidates are printed in parallel columns, each party having a column of its own, with the name and insignia of the party at the top. Immediately below the insignia is a circle in which the voter, by marking a cross, may record his vote for every one of the candidates in the entire column. The voter who does this is said to vote a “straight ticket”. But if he desires to vote for some of the candidates in the column of one party and for some in the column of another party, he leaves the circle unmarked and places a cross after such individual names as he may choose. This is called voting a “split ticket”. In some states there are no party columns; the names of the candidates are printed on the ballot in alphabetical order, each name followed by a party designation. In a few large cities, such as Boston and Cleveland, the party designation is omitted. Here the voter must pick and choose individually. The party-column arrangement encourages the voting of straight tickets; the alphabetical plan does not.[[45]]
Evils of the long ballot.
The Short Ballot.—Throughout the United States the number of elective offices steadily increased during the nineteenth century. The result was that ballots gradually became longer until in some cases the voters found themselves confronted with sheets of paper containing a hundred names or even more. It proved exceedingly difficult to use proper discrimination among so many names and hence there arose an agitation for simplifying the ballot by reducing the number of positions to be filled by election. In a democratic government all officials who have authority to decide questions of general policy—the President, senators, representatives, governors, assemblymen, mayors, councilors, and the like—ought to be chosen by popular vote. But there are many other officials, such as state auditors, county clerks, and superintendents of schools, whose duties are chiefly administrative. These officials carry out a policy which is laid down for them by law, and it is contended that they should not be elected but appointed. If all such officials were made appointive, the size of the ballot would be considerably reduced, and the voters could concentrate their attention upon a smaller number of names.
A ballot is not an effective instrument of popular government unless it is simple enough for the average voter to use intelligently. When a ballot is so long, so complicated, and so unwieldy that the voter is tempted by sheer exhaustion into voting a straight party ticket, then the party leaders, and not the people, are really choosing the officers of government. The movement for a “short ballot” aims to make government more truly democratic, not less so.
Defects of the ordinary ballot.
The Preferential Ballot.—Another defect of the ordinary ballot is that it allows the voter to indicate only a single choice for each office. If there are five candidates for the office of mayor, let us say, the voter may mark his ballot for one of them only. He is not permitted to indicate who would be his second choice, or his third choice among the five. Whichever candidate gets the largest number of first choices among the voters is the winner, although he may be the choice of a small minority. To prevent this likelihood of election by a minority when there are several candidates in the field for a single office a system of “preferential voting” is sometimes used.
How the preferential system works.
Where the preferential ballot is in use, as it is in several American cities, the voters are asked to indicate, in columns provided for this purpose, not only their first but their second and third choices and even their further choices among the various candidates. The names of those candidates whom the voter does not want to support are left unmarked. When preferential ballots are counted, any candidate who has a clear majority of first choices is declared elected. But if no candidate obtains a majority of first choices, the second choices are added to the first choices and if the two totals combined give what would be a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate who received them is declared elected. In like manner the third choices are resorted to if necessary.[[46]] The candidate elected by the preferential system is practically always the choice of a majority among the voters, not the first choice of a majority always, but one whom a majority have indicated their willingness to support. The chief practical objection to the preferential ballot is that many voters do not take the trouble to mark their second and third choices.
The problem of minority representation.
Proportional Representation.[[47]]—Preferential voting should be distinguished from proportional representation, which is a plan of choosing legislative bodies in such a way that all considerable groups of voters will be represented in proportion to their own numbers. Whenever several representatives are elected on the same ballot it usually happens that one political party secures them all. So many voters adhere to the “straight ticket” that the entire party slate wins. The minority party, even though it may comprise nearly half the voters, in such cases obtains no representation at all. This, of course, does not give us a true system of representative government; hence various plans have been put forward for securing to “each considerable party or group of opinion” a representation corresponding to its numerical strength among the voters. The best known among these is the Hare Plan, which has been used in several foreign countries and, during recent years, in a few American cities.[[48]]
The Hare plan explained.
This system of proportional representation is somewhat complicated but may be concisely described as follows: First, the names of all candidates are printed alphabetically on the ballot and the voter indicates his choices by marking the figure 1 after the name of his first choice, the figure 2 after the name of his second choice, and so on. Then, when the polls are closed, the election officers compute the number of votes needed to elect a candidate and this is called “the quota”. This they do by dividing into the total number of votes cast the number of places to be filled, plus one, and then adding one to the quotient. For example, let us suppose that 10,000 votes have been cast and that there are seven candidates to be elected. Ten thousand divided by eight (seven plus one) is 1250 and any candidate who receives 1251 first-choice votes is declared elected. If such candidate, however, has more votes than enough to fill his quota, the surplus votes are distributed in accordance with the indicated second-choices among candidates whose quotas have not been filled. If enough candidates are not elected by this process, the candidate with the smallest number of first choices is then dropped and his votes are distributed in the same way. This process of elimination and distribution goes on until enough candidates have filled their quotas or until the successive eliminations have left no more than enough to fill the vacant positions. This plan is not a model of simplicity, of course, but it is not so difficult to understand as one might at first glance imagine, nor in its actual workings does it present any serious complications. What the voter has to do is simple enough. In so far as there are any difficulties they arise in connection with counting the ballots, not in marking them. The plan is workable and the attainment of proportional representation in all our legislative bodies would be a great gain.
Majorities and pluralities.
Counting the Votes.—When the polls are closed the ballots are counted by the officials of the polling place in accordance with whatever plan is used. With ordinary ballots the counting does not take very long; if preferential ballots are used, or if a system of proportional representation is in vogue, the counting takes a good deal longer. When a candidate receives more than one-half of all the polled votes, he is declared to have a majority; when he merely obtains more votes than the next highest candidate he is said to have a plurality. In the United States, at nearly all elections, a plurality is sufficient. When the counting is finished the result is certified to the proper higher officials. A recount can usually be had at the demand of any candidate, and recounts often take place when the result is close.
Types of corruption.
Corrupt Practices at Elections.—All elections afford some opportunity for corrupt practices and various safeguards are provided against their occurrence. Personation is the offence of voting under a name which is not your own. Voters who have died since the lists were compiled, or who are absent, are sometimes impersonated by men who have no right to vote at all. Vigilance on the part of the election officers helps to prevent personation although the officials can hardly be expected to know everyone who comes to the polls. Repeating is the offence of voting twice at the same election. To do this a voter must first, by fraudulent means, become enrolled as a voter in two or more precincts or districts. Ballot-box stuffing is the practice of putting in the box ballots which have no right to be there. With the Australian ballot the practice is very infrequent. Ballot-switching is the placing of marks on the ballots, surreptitiously, while the ballots are being counted. A dishonest official, with a small piece of lead under his fingernail, has sometimes been able to spoil or to “switch” ballots by marking additional crosses on them during the process of counting. Intimidation is the offence of influencing a voter’s action by threats or wrongful pressure. Bribery, of course, is self-explanatory. All these practices involve moral turpitude and are forbidden under severe penalties. They have now become relatively uncommon at American elections.[[49]]
Absent Voting.—It frequently happens, in the nature of things, that many voters cannot conveniently be in their home districts on election day. Soldiers and sailors, commercial travelers, railway conductors, engineers and trainmen, fishermen, students in universities are obvious examples. It has been estimated that in Massachusetts the number of voters who are necessarily absent from their homes on election day averages about thirty thousand. Many others, in order to cast their ballots, are put to considerable expense and inconvenience. Now it has seemed desirable, in many of the states, to make some provision whereby those voters may cast their ballots without being actually at the polls on election day. The usual arrangement is that a voter who expects to be absent on election day must apply, some time before the election date, to a designated official for a ballot. This ballot is then marked by the voter and sealed in an envelope. The envelope is attested before a notary public and deposited with an election official who sees that it is counted when other ballots are counted. In some states the blank ballot is sent by mail to absent voters who request it, and after being marked the ballot is returned by mail before the election day. The chief objection to absent voting is that it gives an opportunity for fraud, but in practice this has not proved to be a serious objection.
Compulsory Voting.—Compulsory voting does not exist anywhere in the United States at the present time although it has been frequently proposed. Voting has been made compulsory, however, with legal penalties for failure to vote, in several foreign countries, notably in Belgium, in Spain, and in New Zealand. The usual procedure is to impose a fine upon every voter who, without good excuse, stays away from the polls on election day, or, for repeated absences, to strike his name off the voters’ list altogether.
The arguments for compulsory voting.
Compulsory voting rests upon the argument that, in a democracy, the right to vote imposes a duty to vote. The citizen must serve on a jury in time of peace and in the army during war whether he likes these forms of public service or not. Why, then, should he be allowed to shirk his duty to vote, a duty which must be performed if democratic government is to survive? If one voter has the right to stay away from the polls, every other voter has the same right. And if all followed this policy, we could not maintain a “representative” form of government. But there is another side to the question. The voter who goes to the polls because he will be fined if he stays away will not cast his ballot with much discrimination, intelligence, or patriotism. |Are they valid?| Would the votes of such men be worth counting? Would they contribute anything to the cause of good government? Moreover, it has been demonstrated by foreign experience that while you can compel a voter to go to the polls and drop a ballot in the box you cannot compel him to mark his ballot properly, for he marks it in secret. In one of the Swiss cities some years ago it was found that the chief result of compulsory voting was to induce many hundreds of reluctant voters to drop blank ballots in the box. It can well be argued that voting is a duty, but it is a duty which ought to be performed from motives of patriotism and not from dread of the penalties. Most citizens do not require compulsion and it is questionable whether forcing others to vote would, in the long run, serve any useful purpose.
The merits and defects of voting machines.
Voting by Machine.—In some cities of the United States the experiment of permitting the voter to record his choice by means of a voting machine has been tried with varying degrees of success. A voting machine is constructed upon much the same principles as a cash register. The keys bear the names of the various candidates and the voter merely steps behind a curtain where he presses one key after another just as he would mark crosses on a printed ballot. The mechanism is so arranged that a voter cannot press two keys which register for the same office. The voting machine plan has some distinct advantages in that it does away entirely with the trouble and expense of printing ballots; it eliminates spoiled ballots, it precludes all chance of tampering with the votes, and it ensures an accurate count. On the other hand the machines are expensive both to install and to maintain, particularly when several machines are needed for each polling place. Moreover, like all other complicated mechanisms, they get out of order, and when they do this on election day it makes a bad mess of things. It is doubtful whether they will ever supplant the printed ballot plan of voting.
Summary.—In order that any systems of popular voting shall be permanently successful it is necessary that the ballot shall be simple, intelligible, and secret. It must not be so long as to bewilder the voter of average intelligence, and it ought to give the voter a reasonable chance to “split” his ballot without running a serious risk of spoiling it. A short ballot is a far more effective instrument of democracy than a long ballot. Another essential is that the polling place shall be adequately safeguarded against fraudulent practices of any sort and that the counting of votes shall be conducted with absolute honesty. Any corrupt practice in connection with elections is a blow at the very heart of democracy. We hear a good deal, from time to time, about unfairness, fraud, and corruption at elections in the United States, particularly at elections in the larger cities. While these things occur now and then they are much less frequent than they used to be. American elections, taking them as a whole, are conducted with as much fairness and honesty as the elections which are held in any other country. Rival parties and candidates try hard to win; they seize every opportunity to gain political advantages over their opponents, and in so doing often travel very close to the line which separates right from wrong; but on the whole they try to keep within the letter of the election laws. Transgressions of the law may bring some temporary success but in the long run they do not pay, and the politicians know it.
General References
F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 130-191;
P. O. Ray, Political Parties and Practical Politics, pp. 109-164; 298-321;
W. B. Munro, The Government of American Cities, pp. 102-152;
C. L. Jones, Readings on Parties and Elections, pp. 212-250;
A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, pp. 143-164;
K. H. Porter, A History of Suffrage in the United States, pp. 20-46 and passim;
W. W. Willoughby and Lindsay Rogers, Introduction to the Problem of Government, pp. 107-126 (Popular Government).
Group Problems
1. The direct primary: is it a success? Earlier methods of nomination. Evils of the caucus and convention. Why the direct primary was established. The different types of primary. Effect of the primary on the party system. Has it curbed the power of the bosses? Cost of the primary system. Percentage of votes polled at primaries. Has the primary secured better candidates? Can it be improved? Probable effects of the pre-primary informal convention. If not the primary, what then? References: C. E. Merriam, Primary Elections, pp. 117-132; 133-176; F. W. Dallinger, Nominations for Elective Office in the United States, pp. 95-126; R. S. Boots, The Direct Primary in New Jersey, passim; F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 228-242; A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, pp. 182-204; C. G. Haines and Bertha Haines, Principles and Problems of Government, pp. 137-150; C. L. Jones, Readings on Parties and Elections, pp. 53-79; P. O. Ray, Political Parties and Practical Politics, pp. 140-164; A. B. Hall, Popular Government, pp. 45-97.
2. How can the ballot be improved? References: E. C. Evans, History of the Australian Ballot in the United States, pp. 17-47; R. S. Childs, Short Ballot Principles, passim; F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 262-272; C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 474-487; P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American Federal Government, pp. 364-383; C. G. Haines and Bertha Haines, Principles and Problems of Government, pp. 151-166; A. B. Hall, Popular Government, pp. 242-269; Cyclopedia of American Government, Vol. I, pp. 100-104.
3. Proportional representation in theory and in practice. References: J. R. Commons, Proportional Representation, pp. 99-131; W. W. Willoughby and Lindsay Rogers, Introduction to the Problem of Government, pp. 263-275 (also Appendix iii); Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917-1918, Bulletins, No. 28 (Proportional Representation); American Proportional Representation League, Pamphlets, especially Nos. 6 and 8. (The headquarters of the League are at Haverford, Pa., and material relating to proportional representation can be had on application.)
Short Studies
1. The gradual extension of the suffrage in the United States. F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 130-150.
2. Who have the right to vote in European countries? F. A. Ogg, The Governments of Europe (see index).
3. Qualifications for voting in the different states. World Almanac, 1918.
4. How American elections are conducted. A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, pp. 205-239.
5. How voters are enrolled. F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 220-227.
6. The preferential ballot. Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917-1918, Bulletins, No. 27 (Preferential Voting). (See also National Municipal Review, Vol. I, pp. 386-400, July, 1912.)
7. The short ballot. R. S. Childs, Short Ballot Principles, especially pp. 21-30; P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, pp. 372-383.
8. Compulsory voting. Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917-1918, Bulletins, No. 24 (Compulsory Voting).
9. Corrupt practices at elections. C. L. Jones, Readings on Parties and Elections, pp. 202-302.
10. Are elections as fairly conducted in the United States as in other countries? Charles Seymour and Donald O. Frary, How the World Votes (see index).
Questions
1. Is the right to vote a natural right or merely a privilege conferred by the state?
2. Who have the right to vote at elections in your state? Who are excluded? In order to vote, how long must one reside in your state? Your county? Your precinct?
3. Who enrolls voters in your community? When and where do they enroll voters? What evidence must you supply in order to be enrolled?
4. Make a diagram of a polling place showing its interior arrangement, the booths in which voters mark their ballots, the location of the ballot box, etc.
5. What are the different forms of primary and which form do you think is the best (a) for state nominations; (b) for local nominations?
6. What effects would the use of the short ballot have upon (a) the efficiency of government; (b) popular interest at elections; (c) the quality of the officials chosen?
7. Explain the difference between preferential voting, proportional representation, limited voting, and cumulative voting.
8. Explain the difference between corrupt and illegal practices at elections. Make a list of each.
9. What are some of the reasons why so many voters stay away from the polls on election day? Are the following excuses valid: “I do not approve of either political party”; “My vote doesn’t count for anything”; “I am too busy”; “I am not interested in politics”; “It is a rainy day and I might catch cold”; “I have an engagement to play golf”; “The polling place is too far away”; “I do not think any of the candidates worth voting for”?
10. What are some of the practical objections to making voting compulsory?
Topics for Debate
1. There should be an educational test for voting.
2. The failure to vote, in the absence of a valid excuse, should be punished by some appropriate penalty.
3. There should be a limit on the amount of money that may be legally spent by candidates in election campaigns.
GOOD ADMINISTRATION
By Elihu Vedder
From a mural decoration in the Library of Congress.
Good Administration, with benign countenance, sits upon her throne, a perfect arch above her head. As the strength of an arch depends upon all its parts equally, so the maintenance of a strong and efficient administration depends upon the co-operation of all elements among the people. In her right hand Good Administration holds evenly the scales of justice; her left hand rests upon a quartered shield to indicate the fair balance of all parties and classes. On her lap is the book of the law. At her feet, on either side, is an urn. Into one of these urns a maiden is winnowing wheat drawn from the waving fields in the background. The people also, in choosing their public officials, should winnow well. Into the other urn an eager youth, with books of knowledge under his left arm, is casting his ballot.
Mr. Vedder has also executed for the Library of Congress a companion figure portraying Corrupt Administration. She holds the scales, unevenly balanced, in her left hand. A seeker of special favors is placing a bag of gold in the scales; he has seized the book of the law and upset the ballot urn.
GOOD ADMINISTRATION. By Elihu Vedder
From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston. Reproduced by permission.
CHAPTER VIII
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.
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]]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. |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. |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. |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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. |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. |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.
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.
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. |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. |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.
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.
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. |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”.
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. |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.
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]]
|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. |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. |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. 226ff.
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.
CHAPTER IX
COUNTIES AND RURAL COMMUNITIES
The purpose of this chapter is to show how the counties, towns, and villages of the United States are governed, who their local officials are, and what they do.
The division of governmental functions.
What Local Government Is.—The functions performed by governments fall into two divisions. First, there are functions which relate mainly to the life and activities of the neighborhood, such as police administration, fire protection, the cleaning of streets, and the care of the poor. These things can best be managed by the local authorities. Second, there are functions of a more general character which relate to the life and activities of the entire state or nation, such as the regulation of the railroads, the coining of money, the maintenance of post offices, and the control of corporations. These functions we have committed, accordingly, to the state and national governments. In earlier days, before industry and commerce developed so greatly, local functions were the more numerous; but as population grows the whole country tends to become one great community, hence many functions formerly performed by the local authorities are being taken over by the states and the nation. It is impossible to lay down any rule as to what functions are local and what functions are general. A few years ago each town and village made its own regulations concerning the speed limit for automobiles; to-day that matter has been taken over almost everywhere by the state authorities.
Local government in the colonies.
The Beginnings of Local Government in the United States.—Local government is the oldest branch of government; both the state and the national government have grown out of it. When colonists first came from England to Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay they settled on small farms and built their houses within short distances of one another. In Virginia, on the other hand, the colonists took up large plantations for the growing of tobacco and cotton; their homes were spread over a wide area. Because of the difference in the manner of settlement the New England colonists organized themselves into towns (or townships) while the Southern colonists created larger units of local government known as counties. From the Atlantic seaboard these two types of local administration—township and county government—have spread out over the rest of the country. In the course of this spread they have been considerably altered from their original forms.