Dean Jaros

External Variables, Institutional Structure & Dissent on State Supreme Courts

State judiciaries have not received their proper share of attention from political scientists. Although there have been signs of change in this situation, it remains true that we know much more about the United States Supreme Court than about any court or group of courts at lower levels. The study of state courts presents many obstacles, so that if the present attempt to find out a little about the rates of dissent and the reasons therefore is not definitive, one can hardly blame the authors. One hopes that they will continue along the present lines.

Party Choice and Support for Demagogues: An Experimental Examination *

The relationship of parties to democracy and to political stability has concerned scholars for years.1 Extant party systems have almost continually been under attack by reformers bent on achieving various objectives, among them greater party responsibility, greater honesty, and greater efficiency of governmental operation. But party systems have not suffered from a lack of defenders: reformers have often been engaged in vigorous debate. Such controversy, apart from the merits of the arguments on either side, focuses attention on a number of interesting empirical propositions about parties in democratic systems. These propositions, unfortunately, have not often been put to rigorous systematic test. For example, defenders of the American party system in particular point out that an important function of parties is the guiding of social conflict into moderate, non-revolutionary

Transmitting Basic Political Values: The Role of the Educational System

The stability of regimes and the viability of their basic political practices depend upon the widespread acceptance of values which support them. The role of prevailing political culture is thus more basic to the operation of political systems than is formal institutional arrangement;2 indeed, the latter depends in part on the former. It is therefore of fundamental importance to know how such cultural attributes and their attendant political values come to be internalized by the masses of citizens. Recent research has dramatically demonstrated that basic affective political orientations are largely developed during childhood and adolescence. By the time an individual reaches high school age, he is in many ways politically well developed.3 Though the data and systematic methodology of these studies are new, the basic concern with youthful political learning is venerable and enduring; indeed, it is found in the ancient literature of both Western and Oriental cultures as well as that of all inter-

Alienation and Support for Demagogues

Is the alienated nonvoter (that popular object of attention in recent years) a person who can be drawn to the polls by an extremist demagogue? The answer has profound implications for the stability of democratic government. Professors Mason and Jaros here tackle the question with considerable methodological sophistication. As might be expected of such a pioneering effort, some might feel that the results do not match the time and effort; nevertheless one can hardly cavil at an attempt to answer questions of such considerable significance, and if the results are not definitive they are at least indicative. Whether demagogy is very different from simple charisma in its effects on voting may be a question worth consideration.