Chapter 90

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,_