Government in the United States, National, State and Local

by James Wilford Garner

POLITICAL PARTIES AND NOMINATING METHODS

Nature and Functions of Political Parties.—Political parties are organized by groups of voters for the purpose of promoting the success of the policies in which they believe, and in order to secure the nomination and election of public officials who are in sympathy with those policies. Men differ in their opinions on matters of government as they do on matters of religion, and hence they come to constitute well differentiated groups. Whenever such a group becomes large enough to prosecute a concerted policy and organizes itself for the purpose of furthering its views in governmental matters, it becomes a political party. A political party is, therefore, composed of voters who hold substantially the same opinions in regard to certain public questions or certain principles of government. It is a purely voluntary organization, however, and any voter may decline to ally himself with any party, or, having done so, may change to another party whenever he wishes, or he may unite with others of a like mind and form a new party. While men can probably further the cause of good government best by means of organization and concert of action, no citizen should think more of his party than he does of his country, and whenever the purposes of a political party are prostituted for other ends than the public good no voter should feel morally bound to continue his support of such a party.

A National Nominating Convention

National Parties.—Under a system of popular government where public policies are determined by the people and public officials are chosen by popular election, political parties are inevitable if not essential. Almost from the beginning, therefore, we have had political parties in this country, each believing in certain policies and each endeavoring to gain control of the government in order to carry out those policies. For the promotion of policies that are national in character, such as those relating to the tariff, the currency, or the foreign policy of the country, national parties have been formed with organizations extending throughout the entire country.

Local Parties.—For the most part the organization of the national parties extends downward through the states and their local subdivisions, and are made use of in local as well as in national elections. As the issues which divide the people in national elections, however, are not always the same as those which divide them in state and local elections, we sometimes have a realignment of parties in local contests, and sometimes new parties of a local character are organized. This, in fact, is to be desired for the reason that issues of a local character ought not to be determined with reference to the views of men on issues of a national character. It is wrong, for example, for Democrats and Republicans who agree upon the issues involved in a municipal election to oppose each other in such a contest merely because they do not agree on the expediency of a protective tariff or of a gold standard in money matters. In purely local elections national party lines should cut no figure; local issues should be judged wholly on their merits without reference to national questions.

Existing Political Parties in the United States.—At the present time there are two great political parties in the United States, the Democratic party and the Republican party, each with an organization extending to every part of the country, and together including the great majority of the voters.

The Democratic Party.—In a general way, we may say that the Democratic party is composed of men who believe that the sphere of the national government should not be extended beyond what a strict interpretation of the Federal Constitution warrants; that the rights of the states should be interfered with as little as possible; and that the activities of government, whether national, state, or local, should be kept down to a minimum so that the individual shall be allowed the largest measure of freedom consistent with the maintenance of order, peace, and security. This party has uniformly opposed a protective tariff, ship subsidies, imperialism, and the extension of the powers of the national government through "constructions" of the Constitution. On the money question the party has not always been united, though for the most part it has opposed the single gold standard and favored a bimetallic standard coupled with the free coinage of silver as well as of gold.

The Republican Party has contended for a liberal interpretation of the Federal Constitution, especially those parts relating to the powers of the national government, which it desires to see extended; it has shown less sympathy than the Democratic party for the rights of the states; it is the champion of the protective tariff, of internal improvements under federal auspices, of colonial expansion, liberal pensions for soldiers and sailors of the Civil War, of subventions for the merchant marine, negro suffrage, and of a gold monetary standard. From the accession of the Republican party to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln as President, down to 1913, it controlled the executive department of the national government continually with the exception of eight years when Grover Cleveland was President (1885-1889; 1893-1897). During most of that period it controlled Congress, though several times the Democratic party had a majority in one or the other house and occasionally for a short time it was in the majority in both houses.