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]

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.

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.

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 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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.