The Prohibition Party was organized in 1872 to bring about complete prohibition of alcoholic drinks. It has elected candidates to the Legislature and has secured an ever larger measure of local option and even State-wide prohibition.
The Socialist Party, organized in 1900, advocates government ownership of land, railroads, telegraph and telephones, mines, and all vital industries. It has become largely the party of the industrial workers.
Minor parties have come and gone, but they have usually left a lasting effect on the dominant parties.
In New York State, any organization is considered “a party” which polled at least 10,000 votes for Governor at the last election.
Party Organization: The individual voter, or group of voters, is helpless to change conditions or to elect a man. It is only through the organization of many men who want the same thing that they become effective. Political parties are organized for National, State, and local campaigns.
The great work of the political parties is the nomination and election of a President every four years. For this purpose there must be a national party organization.
The National Committee of each party is composed of one member from each State. It organizes the National Convention of the party, which is held early in the summer before the presidential election, and at which party policies are formulated, and candidates for President and Vice-President are nominated. In the spring the chairman of the National Committee calls a meeting of this committee to decide where and when the convention shall meet.
Besides nominating candidates for President and Vice-President, the convention adopts a “platform” in which is set forth the principles which the party holds and its attitude on important public questions. A new National Committee is appointed to carry on the campaign and to act until the next convention.
The platform adopted by the party at its National convention is an expression of the principles for which the party stands. A “plank” may be put in simply to catch votes; on some question the plank may not be explicit, but may “straddle” the issue. While in the main the National platform sets forth the principles to which the party is committed and its proposals for future action, the speech or letter of acceptance of the candidate for the presidency usually contains a more reliable statement of the policies which he would advocate if elected.
The State Committee is the party organization in control of the party in the State. It is composed of one man from each of the one hundred and fifty Assembly Districts in the State, who are elected by the enrolled members of the party in each district. The chairman is elected by the committee to serve for two years.