"Pol. Par power count for much more in the chief places of trust. In Woodburn, spite of the fact that we Americans dread "one-man power” ties and and have arranged our entire scheme of government to pre- Problems, vent the assumption of despotic authority, prominent public 254-265. offices offer great opportunities for action. The publicity given to a public man makes many an office desirable. When the securing of an elective office means the privilege of appointing scores or possibly hundreds of men to vacancies, it will not be neglected, even if the salary is small. There are very few elected offices that do not give the incumbent some share of this patronage, or power of appointment, although the position may be so humble that the appointee is only a doorkeeper or janitor. It is not strange that such opportunities should appeal to the man who places private ambition or gain above public service. ties for expending money. A sum almost as great as the aggregate salaries of all per- Opportunisons appointed to positions under our governments is dispensed every year for school buildings and supplies, roads and other public improvements, street lighting, transportation of the mails, and numerous other subjects. A perfectly proper use of these funds which amounts to nearly, if not quite, one billion dollars a year, means immense power to those who decide for what the money shall be spent. In granting contracts and in other ways even an honest official may not hesitate to increase his influence through the advantages of his position. What a dishonest man might do must be apparent. of the subject. 23. The Steps in Popular Election. In view of the ad- Importance vantages derived from public office, it is not surprising that there should be two or more candidates for most positions, even though the place bring strife, criticism, and hatred. The importance of the subject to the citizen, and especially to the voter, becomes apparent when we reconsider the importance of the work done by our governments, the number of officials elected at the oft-recurring elections, and the difficulties of selecting the right men who will continue to C From nomination to installation. Composition of the conventions. Dallinger, Nominations for Elective Office, 64-65. Procedure in a convention. Dallinger, tions, 65-74. perform their duties in a satisfactory manner. In the fol lowing paragraphs we shall examine the general process of election. It will be well to note first the four steps in the process. When voters go to the polls and cast their ballots, they vote for those only who have been nominated for that office. These nominations are made several weeks before the election by conventions held by the political parties or in primaries of the voters composing the political parties. In the campaign, between the nominations and the election, these nominees or candidates, aided by the very complete organization of their party, make every effort to win over the voters to their side. After the voters have expressed their preference in the election, the successful candidates are installed in office upon the day set by law for assuming their new duties. NOMINATIONS FOR ELECTIVE OFFICE 24. Nominating Conventions. Most candidates for the offices which are filled by popular vote are chosen by nominating conventions of delegates. If the convention meets to nominate candidates for state offices, the delegates are chosen usually in county conventions. The county conventions are in turn composed of delegates elected directly by the voters in primaries. These conventions are ordinarily large assemblies, even when the district for which candidates are selected is small. The most interesting conventions of all, those that select nominees for the presidency, are reserved for special treatment later (§ 317). When the delegates have gathered upon the day selected, the convention proceeds to chose a temporary chairman and other officers, and to appoint several committees. One of these committees decides what delegates have been chosen to the convention. If two sets of delegates have been selected from the same district, the convention must admit only one, and the committee, by recommending the exclusion of un desired contestants, may really decide the later action of the convention. Another committee reports to the convention a set of resolutions embodying the party's views upon public questions, while a third proposes the names of the permanent officers of the convention. When it has been organized, the convention begins its real business of nominating candidates. If but one name is suggested for any office, the secretary is usually instructed to cast a ballot for that person. Otherwise, the delegates vote by ballot until some one person has a majority of all the votes cast. If the convention is controlled by the party managers who have selected the candidates in advance, the nominations lack interest, but when there is any doubt, or a decided contest takes place, the excitement is intense. are primaries in the scheme of elections. Hart, Ac tual Gov't, § 45 25. The Primaries. Most of the candidates for office in Place of the the smallest districts and many for larger districts nominated directly in primaries. The delegates to all local conventions are chosen directly by the primaries and the delegates to state and national conventions indirectly by the primaries, so that in a sense primaries are the most vital part of the system of popular election. The name "primary" is used in two different ways. (1) Originally it meant a mass meeting of voters of a single party within a precinct, the smallest district, for the purpose of selecting delegates or nominating 42-53. local candidates. (2) It is used now also to cover the primary elections held for the selections of delegates to conventions, or for the direct nomination of candidates. In this primary election, which is similar to a regular election (§ 29), members of all parties take part, but no voter may vote for the nominees or delegates of more than one party. Fuller, Gov't by People, It would naturally be supposed that every voter would Importance attend the primaries to which he is eligible, because his of the primaries. only opportunities of securing good men for office are at the primaries or at the polls on election day. At the election, Remsen, his choice will be limited to the candidates that have been nominated, all of whom may be unsatisfactory; but at the 48-58. Public Primaries, 31-42. Merriam, Fuller, Gov't primaries he may aid in electing delegates who will be sure by People, to favor good men. In reality, the primary gives him a much better opportunity to obtain good government than the election does. Nevertheless, the majority of the voters in the United States neglect to attend the primaries, or go only to confirm the list of delegates proposed by the ward committee of their party (§ 37) and frequently approved before the meeting of the primary at a mass meeting called a caucus. This committee undoubtedly knows better than the average voter who will make good delegates, but sometimes a committee proposes unfit men that will not act for the best interests of the party. It is of the first importance, therefore, that every voter attend the primaries of his party, and make sure that the right men are chosen. Candidates selected by the voters directly. Allen, P. L., in Outlook, 84 (1906), 120-125. Shaw, W.B., in Outlook, 90 (1908), 383-389. Merriam, 26. Direct Nominations. Because of the dissatisfaction with the older method of nomination through conventions. which might be controlled by politicians, and in response to the general demand that government should be brought close to the people, direct nominations have come into use for local offices in a majority of the States, and for state offices in most of the Southern commonwealths, in almost all of the Middle Western States, and in those of the extreme Northwest. The names of all those who desire or will accept the nomination for any office are placed on file with the city or county clerk as soon as they have obtained the signatures of a certain number of voters. On a day set by law a primary election is held, similar in most respects to a regular election (§ 29), and the voters are allowed to select their candidates for each office to be filled at the coming election, provided that no one is permitted to vote for candidates of more than one party, in order that the members of one party shall not be allowed to influence the nominations of another. The candidate of each party who receives a greater number of votes than any other candidates of the same party for the same office is declared the nominee of that party for that office, and his name appears as such on the official ballot used in the regular election. This system gives the voters a somewhat freer choice, but it does not produce satisfactory results unless they vote, and vote intelligently. party Many of the States make use of the direct primary to in- Party concrease public control of the party organizations, forcing the trol by, and parties to choose their committees at these primary elec- leadership tions. This should produce party organizations fairly rep- in, direct resentative of the members of the party. There is little There is little primaries. doubt that many of the vexed problems of nominations for elective office will be solved by perfecting and reforming the party organization, and, except in city elections, by permitting the party leaders to suggest names for most of the candidates to be considered at the primaries. The direct primary can then be used as a check to secure the nomination of the best possible candidates. made to secure votes. 27. The Campaign may occupy the entire time between Efforts the nominations and the elections, or it may be limited chiefly to the month preceding the polling of the votes, every effort being made by each party to elect its candidates. The Rev. of campaign is conducted by the permanent party committees, Revs., 22 (1900), or by special executive committees (§ 36) which represent 549-562. the candidates particularly, if the campaign is of sufficient importance. In a presidential campaign, for example, there is a special national executive committee whose chairman for months directs the campaign, and whose members divide the task of persuading or convincing voters. Money must be obtained to pay the expenses of printing campaign literature and to secure the services of speakers, while personal efforts must be used to obtain the support of the " ers," and bring all of the party's adherents to the polls. In a city election the general conduct of the campaign, including the raising and distribution of funds, belongs to the city committee, and the ward committees under its charge organize clubs, hold meetings, and perform active duties on election day. In the campaigns of to-day, fortunately, less waver |