Chapter XLII: , Sections 542 and 543. is resorted to, that is to say,

congressional districts are so arranged as to give the minority party overwhelming majorities in a few districts, while the dominant party is allowed to carry the remaining districts by very small majorities. The result is gross misrepresentation in Congress, because the party having a bare majority often secures a large percentage of the representatives, while the minority is very inadequately represented.

Such misrepresentation also appears in connection with the choice of representatives to the state legislatures.

In the attempt to remedy this type of misrepresentation various plans of _proportional representation_ have been put forth. In Illinois members of the lower house of the state legislature have long been chosen as follows: Each state senatorial district is given the right to elect three assemblymen. Every elector in the district has the right to cast three votes, one each for three different persons, or two votes for one candidate and one for another, or all for one candidate. By concentrating its votes upon one candidate, an average minority can be sure of at least one representative in each district. A plan employed in several other states likewise aims to give each political party representation proportional to the number of votes cast by the party, regardless of whether the number is a minority or a majority. The principle of proportional representation, if fully worked out, and if made simple enough to be comprehended by the average voter, would insure majority rule and at the same time allow the adequate representation of minorities.

446. OBSTACLES TO INTELLIGENTY VOTING.--Several obstacles to intelligent voting in this country are intimately connected with the long ballot. [Footnote: The term "long ballot" refers to the fact that so many officials are elective that the ballot on which their names appear is often of great length. The term "short ballot" refers to a reduction of the length of this ballot by making fewer officers elective.] The wave of democracy which swept the country in the last century had the double effect of increasing the number of elective offices, and of shortening the terms during which officials were allowed to hold office. A greatly lengthened ballot, together with the great frequency of elections, has made it impossible for the average voter to exercise proper judgment at the polls. The difficulty of investigating the merits of the numerous candidates, or even of becoming familiar with their names, has discouraged many from voting. Of those who still pretend to reach independent decisions regarding candidates and issues, a considerable number really rely upon the direction and advice of professional politicians. The long ballot is the enemy of democracy, since it allows politicians, rather than the masses, to control actual government.

447. SHORTENING THE BALLOT.--The chief remedy for these evils is the short ballot. The essential features of the short ballot plan are as follows: Popular elections should be resorted to only for the purpose of choosing those officials who have to do with public policies. For example, state voters ought to select only the governor, lieutenant governor, and members of the legislature; city voters ought to choose only the mayor and council; [Footnote: Where this form of municipal government is still employed.] while county voters ought to confine their attention to a small group of county commissioners or supervisors. All other officials ought to be appointed, either directly by chief executive officers, or by means of the merit plan. Along with the shortening of the ballot, we should be increasingly willing to allow officials to hold office for longer terms. A supplementary feature of great value would be the establishment of such means of popular control as would protect the public against abuse of power by officials to whom these longer terms had been extended.

448. MERITS OF THE SHORT BALLOT.--There can be little doubt that a drastic shortening of the ballot would work a great improvement in our electoral system. If the vast majority of officials were made appointive, the voter could give more time and thought to the consideration of a few important elective officials. A short ballot would lessen the possibilities of manipulation by rings and bosses. Unquestionably the interest of the voter would be quickened, since his influence upon the political life of his community would be more apparent. And not only would the short ballot make government more representative, but it would help to make it more responsible.

If the majority of the administrative officials who are now elected were made appointive, responsibility for their conduct in office could be concentrated upon the chief executive officer appointing them.

449. THE NEGLECT TO VOTE.--The last of the vital questions arising in connection with the choice of public officials is the matter of encouraging the enfranchised classes to use the ballot. The long ballot and the domination of party politics by rings and bosses discourage many from voting, nevertheless it is probably true that the slackness of the individual is the chief reason why voters neglect to use the ballot. This slackness may take the form of personal indolence, or of indifference to civic duty, or of preoccupation with the press of personal business. When individuals are busy with their private affairs the time needed for intelligent political action is often begrudged. Again, the duty to vote is not always a compelling one. When a duty is shared with innumerable other people, it appears less of a personal duty; when the individual notes that his fellow- citizens neglect that duty, his own tendency toward slackness is encouraged. In a democracy, as Lord Bryce points out, "everybody's business becomes nobody's business."

450. IMPORTANCE OF CIVIC EDUCATION.--The perfecting of our nominating and elective machinery, together with the shortening of the ballot, is doing a good deal to awaken interest in the proper use of the vote. But the problems of democracy cannot be solved by purely mechanical means. If our voters are to regard the use of the ballot as a civic duty, we must rely largely upon civic education. Young people, soon to be voters, must be impressed with the responsibilities of democracy. They must be taught the vital importance of using the vote. In Belgium and Spain it is customary to penalize individuals for neglecting to vote, but the idea of compulsory voting is repugnant to the American spirit. Moreover, law alone can neither build up nor sustain individual morality. The remedy for indifference to the ballot would seem to be not law, but the education of voters to their moral obligation toward the government under which they live.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. What four questions arise in connection with the choice of public officials?

2. Describe nomination by caucus. To what extent is this method still used?

3. Why did the nominating convention arise?

4. What forces were responsible for the decline of the convention?

5. What is the nature and purpose of the Direct Primary?

6. To what extent is the Direct Primary used in this country?

7. What are the chief advantages of this device?

8. What defects are urged against the Direct Primary?

9. What does Professor Munro conclude as to the value of the Direct Primary?

10. What is nomination by petition?

11. What is the problem of majority representation?

12. Discuss the nature and purpose of the preferential voting device.

13. What is the purpose of gerrymandering?

14. What is the nature and purpose of proportional representation?

15. What is the relation of civic education to the proper use of the ballot?

REQUIRED READINGS

1. Williamson, _Readings in American Democracy,_ chapter xxxv.

Or all of the following:

2. Bryce, _The American Commonwealth_ vol. ii, chapter lxvi.

3. Guitteau, _Government and Politics in the United States,_ chapter xxxvii.

4. Ray, _Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics,_ chapter iv.

5. Reed, _Form and Functions of American Government,_ chapter vii.

QUESTIONS ON THE REQUIRED READINGS

1. Is the number of elective officers in the United States greater or less than in Europe? (Bryce, page 146.)

2. How is the caucus used at the present time? (Ray, page 75.)

3. What is a "self-announced" candidate? (Ray, page 75.)

4. Describe the workings of the "nomination by petition" device. (Ray, page 76.)

5. What evils attend the unregulated caucus or primary? (Ray, pages 80-83.)

6. Describe the work of the state nominating convention. (Guitteau, pages 467-468.)

7. Outline the procedure in the national convention. (Guitteau, pages 471-472.)

8. What are the two chief types of Australian ballot? (Reed, pages 82- 84.)

9. What is the chief weakness of the Direct Primary? (Reed, page 87.)

10. Name some states in which the presidential preference primary is used. (Reed, page 87.)

11. How is a typical presidential preference primary conducted? (Reed, page 87.)

TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT

I

1. Use of the caucus or primary in your community.

2. The nominating convention in your state.

3. The Direct Primary in your state or community.

4. Legal control of the Direct Primary in your state.

5. The extent to which nomination by petition is employed in your state.

6. The representation of minorities in your state legislature.

7. Recent ballot reform in your state.

II

8. The framework of the convention. (Ford, _Rise and Growth of American Politics_, chapter xvi; Ray, _Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics_, chapter v; Woodburn, _Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States_, chapters xi-xiii.)

9. The nominating convention at work. (Bryce, _The American Commonwealth_, vol. ii, chapter lxx; Ray, _Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics_, chapter viii.)

10. Structure of the Direct Primary. (Ray, _Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics_, chapter vi.)

11. How the Direct Primary works. (Cleveland, _Organised Democracy,_ chapter xvii; Woodburn, _Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States,_ chapter xxi.)

12. Effect of the Direct Primary upon party organization. (Holcombe, _State Government in the United States,_ pages 193-204.)

13. Direct nominations. (Reinsch, _Readings on American State Governments,_ pages 383-394)

14. Tyranny of the majority. (Bryce, _The American Commonwealth,_ vol. ii, chapter lxxxiv.)

15. Safeguarding the rights of the minority. (Gettell, _Readings in Political Science,_ pages 322-325.)

16. The nature of proportional representation. (Jones, _Readings on Parties and Elections in the United States,_ pages 164-168; Commons, _Proportional Representation._)

17. Objections to the principle of proportional representation. (Gettell, _Readings in Political Science,_ pages 324-325.)

18. Preferential voting. (_Massachusetts Constitutional Convention Bulletins,_ 1917.)

19. The gerrymander. (Woodburn, _Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States,_ chapter xx.)

20. The short ballot. (Childs, _Short Ballot Principles;_ Massachusetts Constitutional Convention Bulletins, 1917.)

21. What proportion of qualified voters actually use the ballot? (Hart, _Practical Essays on American Government,_ No. 2.)

FOR CLASSROOM DISCUSSION

22. The desirability of extending the Direct Primary in your state.

23. The closed versus the open primary.

24. Advantages and disadvantages of nomination by petition.

25. Advantages and disadvantages of holding local, state and National elections at different times.