National Committee and State Party Organizations in Montana
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295801100320 |
| Published date | 01 September 1958 |
| Date | 01 September 1958 |
| Author | Thomas Payne |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
708
NATIONAL
COMMITTEE
AND
STATE
PARTY
ORGANIZATIONS
IN
MONTANA
THOMAS
PAYNE*
*
Montana
State
University
The
relationship
between
national
and
state
party
organizations
has
generally
received
little
attention
in
textbooks
on
American
political
party
organization.
Typically,
such
treatises
contain
a
word
of
caution
against
assuming
that
the
national
committe
exercises
control
over
state
committees
together
with
an
assertion
to
the
effect
that
the
national
committee
does
endeavor
to
co-ordinate
its
activities
with
those
of
the
state
central
com-
mittees.
Little
specific
information,
however,
is
added
to
throw
light
on
the
precise
nature
of
the
relationship.
It
is
the
purpose
of
this
paper
to
explore
the
nature
of
national
com-
mittee-state
central
committee
relationships
for
one
state - Montana.
I
shall
discuss
the
pattern
of
relationships
in
four
areas:
(1)
personnel;
(2)
general
liaison;
(3)
finance;
and
(4)
campaigns.
In
conclusion
I
shall
sug-
gest
what
to
me
seems
a
discernible
trend
which
is
likely
to
alter
the
pat-
tern
of
relationships.
In
both
the
Democratic
and
Republican
parties
there
is
overlapping
in
the
personnel
of
the
state
and
national
organizations.
This
is
a
factor
of
considerable
significance
in
understanding
national-state
relationships.
Both
Democratic
national
committeemen
from
Montana -
Mr.
Leo
Gray-
bill
and
Mrs.
Wallace
Kingsbury
- are
active
in
state
party
affairs.
Mr.
Graybill,
for
example,
has
been
speaker
of
the
house
of
representatives
of
Montana
on
a
number
of
occasions
when
the
Democrats
have
controlled
that
body.
An
all-Democratic
congressional
delegation
from
Montana
con-
tributes
a
congressional
tone
to
Democratic
national-state
party
relations.
The
overlapping
of
state
and
national
party
personnel
is
also
evident
on
the
Republican
side.
Both
national
committee
members -
Mr.
Welling-
ton
D.
Rankin
and
Mrs.
Gladys
E.
Knowles -
are
members
of
the
state
executive
committee.
This
assures
that national
party
views
will
be
repre-
sented
at
the
state
level.
On
the
other
hand,
under
Republican
national
convention
rules
effective
since
1952
the
state
chairman,
Mr.
R.
F.
Juede-
man,
is
also
a
member
of
the
Republican
National
Committee.
In
both
parties
a
number
of
devices
are
employed
to
maintain
general
liaison.
Both
national
committees
issue
publications
which
receive
the
at-
tention
of
state
organization
personnel.
The
Democratic
Digest
and
a
Republican
periodical,
Straight
from
the
Shoulder,
are
much
in
evidence
at
the
headquarters
of
the
respective
parties
in
Montana.
Both
national
chair-
men
prepare
and
distribute
brief
memoranda
which
inform
their
respective
organizations
of
current
party
developments,
as,
for
example,
the
Republi-
To continue reading
Request your trial