Book Reviews : Explorations in the Theory of Anarchy. Edited By GORDON TULLOCK. (Blacks- burg: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1973. Pp. 92. $6.95.)

• Author: M.W. Jackson
• Published date: 01 December 1974
• Date: 01 December 1974
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591297402700427
• Subject Matter: Articles

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support for the national ticket of the &dquo;casual Democrats&dquo; who constitute a major
portion of the Democratic voters (i.e., those who vote the party at congressional
and state level). Stewart argues that the &dquo;casual Democrats&dquo; perceived the de
f acto quota system at the national convention as somehow cloaking the party’s
nominee with a mantle of illegitimacy.
This seems unlikely. The casual Democrat more likely responded to the
traditional conservative instinct of popular political wisdom which suggests when
in doubt stick with what you have (Nixon) rather than with an unknown quantity
(McGovern) . If, as Stewart suggests, McGovern lost in large measure because of
the desertion of the regular officeholders who did not actively lead the casual
Democrats into the national fold, why blame McGovern or the amorphous New
Politics reformers for a nonloyal (perhaps arrogant) act on the part of the regular
Democrats? The reform element failed not because of its message, perhaps, but
because it was unable to mold the party regulars into responsible educators of their
constituencies.
Stewart is not suggesting the abandonment of the reform imperative of the
Democratic party. He is rather arguing for appropriate reform (which apparently
discards much of what he perceives to be the New Politics). He argues that the
party must be responsive to who the &dquo;casual Democrats&dquo; are and what they per-
ceive to be their basic need, i.e., a sense that the system can work effectively and
in their interest. Stewart presents a demographic profile of the Democratic voter
(avoiding the pitfalls of the stereotyped &dquo;average&dquo; Democrat that so often has
flowed from such profiles) which convincingly supports his argument that the
Democratic constituent is no longer appropriately seen in the New Deal mold.
In an extensive appendix, Stewart details how many of the changes he advocates
may be made operational.
This book can be read profitably both by...