LOVEJOY, ALLEN FRASER. La Follette and the Establishment of the Direct Primary in Wisconsin, 1890-1904. Pp. 107. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1941. $1.00

• DOI: 10.1177/000271624222100134
• Date: 01 May 1942
• Published date: 01 May 1942
• Subject Matter: Articles

199

SCHATTSCHNEIDER,

E.

E.

Party

Govern-

ment.

Pp.

xv,

219.

New

York:

Farrar

and

Rinehart,

Inc.,

1942.

$1.25.

Professor

Schattschneider

has

under-

taken

the

task

of

defending

the

thesis

that

&dquo;the

political

parties

created

democracy

and

that

modern

democracy

is

unthinkable

save

in

terms

of

the

parties.

As

a

matter

of

fact,

the

condition

of

the

parties

is

the

best

pos-

sible

evidence

of

the

nature

of

any

regime.&dquo;

The

author

analyzes

the

elements

of the

American

two-party

system

which

produces

a

single-member

district

system.

Dr.

Schatt-

schneider

explains

the

very

small

repre-

sentation

achieved

by

the

minor

parties

in

the

Congressional

House

of

Representatives

and

in

the

state

legislatures.

In

at

least

forty-four

of

the

forty-eight

state

legisla-

tures

there

is

no

real

third-party

represen-

tation

whatever,

and

the

total

representa-

tion

for

minor

parties

in

these

state

bodies

is

less

than

1

per

cent.

This

becomes

more

serious

when

one

realizes

that

the

two-

party

system

has

produced

major

parties

that

are

moderate

and

almost

indistin-

guishable.

With

penetrating

insight

the

author

ex-

amines

what

for

him

is

the

most

important

single

characteristic

of

the

American

ma-

jor

party:

decentralization

of

power.

The

nominating

systems

for

some

800,000

elec-

tive

offices the

special

concern

of

the

state

and

local

bosses-are

the

mark

of

this

decentralization.

To

Professor

Schatt-

schneider

the

American

major

party

&dquo;is

a

loose

confederation

of

state

and

local

bosses,

for

limited

purposes.&dquo;

The

decentralized

character

of

American

parties

can

best

be

observed

in

the

Congress

of

the

United

States,

where

presidential

leadership

is

not

strong

enough

to

hold

the

party

in

line

on

controversial

issues

when

the

pressure

is

on.

Furthermore,

because

the

parties

are

de-

centralized,

they

fail

to

impose

an

effective

discipline

on

their

Congressional

representa-

tion,

which

makes

great

concessions

to

pres-

sure

groups.

The

abusive

tactics

of

organ-

ized

minorities

could

be

more

effectively

met

by

Congressmen

who

were

backed

by

strong

national

parties.

The

author

graphi-

cally

explains

that

the

whole

nature

of

the

American

party

system

is

inextricably

bound

up

with

the

conflict

between

the

central-local

distribution

of

power

within

the

party

and

the

public

and

private

in-

terests

in

the

party.

An

experimental

test

in

the

nature

of

the

party

system

which

marked

a

significant

milestone

in

the

strug-

gle

between

national

party

leadership

and

the

local

machine,

was

President

Roose-

velt’s

attempted

Congressional

&dquo;purge&dquo;

in

1938.

The

future

of

American

parties

will

be

determined

by

a

triangular

tug

of

war

among

(1)

presidential

parties,

(2)

the

lo-

cal

bosses,

and

(3)

the

pressure

groups.

The

diagrams

and

tables

incorporated

in

this

volume

lend

clarity

and

simplicity

to

the

problems

presented

and

the

conclusions

reached.

The

volume

contains

a

short,

dis-

criminating

list

of

bibliographical

refer-

ences,

and

a

usable

index.

Dr.

Schattschneider

has

written

a

pro-

vocative

analysis

of

party

government

in

the

United

States.

The

author

need

offer

no

apology

for

an

additional

volume

on

this

subject,

for

he

has

not

traversed

the

ground

covered

by

conventional

textbook

writers.

His

treatment

is

original,

stimulating,

and

engaging,

and

will

be

fully

appreciated

by

students

with

at

least

an

elementary

knowl-

edge

of

American

political

institutions.

Furthermore,

this

volume

deserves

serious

consideration

because

the

author

does

make

a

good

case

for

the

distinction

between

democracy

and

dictatorship

in

terms

of

party

politics.

BELLE

ZELLER

Brooklyn

College

LOVEJOY,

ALLEN

FRASER.

La

Follette

and

the

Establishment

of

the

Direct

Primary

in

Wisconsin,

1890-1904.

Pp.

107.

New

Haven:

Yale

University

Press,

1941.

$1.00.

This

is

an

undergraduate

prize

essay

writ-

ten

by

Allen

F.

Lovejoy

of

the

class

of

1941

in

Yale

College

and

published

under

the

Frank

Miner

Patterson

Fund

of

Yale

University.

It

deals

with

Robert

M.

La

Follette

and

the

establishment

of

the

direct

primary

in

Wisconsin-&dquo;a

landmark,&dquo;

as

the

author

puts

it,

&dquo;in

the

early

history

of

Progressivism

in

America.&dquo;

Using

a

con-

siderable

amount

of

primary

source

mate-

rial

and

utilizing

published

materials,

Mr.

Lovejoy

has

been

able

to

draw

a

very

care-

ful

picture

of

the

enactment

of

direct

pri-

mary

legislation

in

Wisconsin.

The

fight

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