POLITICAL PARTIES 



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POLITICAL PARTIES 



THE STORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES 



OLITICAL PARTIES. Although a po- 

 litical party is not a part of a government, 

 yet it is in fact a second or unofficial govern- 

 ment. The party in power at any one time is 

 actually directing the legal machinery of gov- 

 ernment. The President of the United States 

 or the Premier of the Dominion of Canada is 

 also, as a rule, the recognized leader of his 



party. If he has not been recognized as the 

 leader, he has usually failed to carry through 

 important legislation and has, perhaps, failed 

 in attaining most of his other objects. The 

 party system, therefore, is sometimes described 

 as a link between the executive and legislative 

 branches, for the executive's success in office 

 depends on his identification with his party. 



Political Parties in the United States 



The party system in the United States has 

 five main objects, or lines of attack. Briefly 

 stated, these are as follows: (1) to influence 

 government policy ; (2) to form public opinion ; 

 (3) to win elections; (4) choose between can- 

 didates for office; and (5) procure salaried posts 

 for party leaders and workers. One of these, 

 the last, is not always admitted as an object, 

 and especially in recent years it has met strong 

 opposition. The fourth of these objects, the 

 election of public officers, is almost entirely pe- 

 culiar to the United States. In some other 

 countries a few officers are chosen by vote, but 

 nowhere to such a degree as in the United 

 States. With comparatively few exceptions, 

 every public officer in the United States, from 

 the President to the village constable, is elected 



So widespread, indeed, is the party system, 

 that it may be said without exaggeration that 

 all elections, even those which have nothing to 

 do with national issues, are yet determined on 

 a basis of national" party labels. For example, 

 Republican county commissioners will probably 

 be elected if the county gives a majority of its 

 ballots to the Republican candidate for Presi- 

 dent. This does not mean that the Republic- 

 ans will be better commissioners because they 

 believe in a high protective tariff, but merely 

 shows to what degree the party spirit has per- 

 meated American life. There is, to be sure, a 

 new and refreshing tendency towards independ- 

 ence in politics, but the chances are still much 

 against the independent candidate and in favor 

 of the "regular" man. 



The hold which national political parties 

 have on the mass of voters has tended to the 

 slow effacement of state and sectional 1 

 because it has emphasized national issues. It 

 has thus helped the nation to overshadow the 

 states. On the other hand, the party system 

 has thrust great power into the hands of local 

 "bosses," or managers men who have been 

 able to make themselves leaders in their party. 

 Such men, by invoking party discipline, have 

 often managed to elect inferior or even dishon- 

 est men to high office. For the sake of electing 

 a President, men have often voted for all the 

 candidates of a party, and thus have placed in 

 power men less worthy than candidates of an- 

 other party. The party system, as applied to 

 local issues and offices, has been a fruitful 

 source of misgovernmcnt. 



Machinery of Parties. If it is granted that 

 the parties operate the government, then, it 

 may be asked, who controls the parties? In 

 the opinion of James Bryce, probably the best- 

 known commentator on American instinn 

 control is divided amonn three groups: fn>t. 

 the individual leaders, who have ri^cn through 

 talents or ability to positions of influence ; sec- 

 ond, rich men, whose money donations enable 

 in the party's councils; third, the 

 mass of citizens, who usually follow the lead of 

 the two other groups, but occasionally revolt. 

 When Bryce made this classification, tl 

 ades ago, there was more reason for it than 

 is to-day, for now the rich man, merely 

 as such, is almost negligible as an influence in 

 politics. 



