Gerald M. Pomper

Voters, elections, and parties : the practice of democratic theory

Democratic theory promises that government will protect the interests of the citizenry and follow majority will in its policies. To put theory into practice, voters must be capable, elections must be meaningful, and parties must be responsible. For over two decades, Gerald Pomper has explored the empirical realities of contemporary democracy. The book features a comprehensive introductory essay, stating the major themes of this work. Each of the three major sections is preceded by Pompers reappraisal of previous writings, both published and unpublished.

The 2000 Presidential Election: Why Gore Lost

The presidential election of 2000 stands at best as a paradox, at worst as a scandal, of American democracy. Democrat Albert Gore won the most votes, a half million more than his Republican opponent George W. Bush, but lost the presidency in the electoral college by a count of 271-267. Even this count was suspect, dependent on the tally in Florida, where many minority voters were denied the vote, ballots were confusing, and recounts were mishandled and manipulated. The choice of their leader came not from the citizens of the nation, but from lawyers battling for five weeks. The final decision was made not by 105 million voters, but by a 5-4 majority of the unelected U.S. Supreme Court, issuing a tainted and partisan verdict. That decision ended the presidential contest, and George W. Bush now heads the conservative restoration to power, buttressed by thin party control of both houses of Congress. The election of 2000, however, will not fade. It encapsulates the political forces shaping the United States at the end of the twentieth century. Its controversial results will affect the nation for many years of the new era.

Local Party Activists and Electoral Linkage: Middlesex County, NJ

Using the framework of linkage theory, we examine local parties, by means of mail questionnaires to party activists in one county of New Jersey. Three aspects are investigated : level of activism, satisfaction of activists, and decision-making structures. Activists concentrate on campaigns, derive most satisfaction from electoral work, and leave decision making to party leaders. Relationships among higher activism, greater satisfaction, and more democratic structures are positive, but only to a moderate degree. We conclude, with Schlesinger, that U.S. parties primarily are agencies of electoral, not participatory or clientelistic, linkage, and consider the possible implications of this fact for the long-range liability of local parties and the American political system.

Controls and Influence in American Elections (Even 1968

In the Presidential election of 1968, many doubted the efficacy of their choice. The Committee of Inquiry, formed to endorse a candidate responsive to black interests, declined to choose among Humprhey, Nixon, or Wallace. Opponents of the Vietnam war, deprived of the target of Lyndon Johnson, saw little difference between the Democratic and Republican policies or candidates. After the death of Robert Kennedy and the defeat of Eugene McCarthy, the alienation of thousands of the young increased. These events have raised again perennial questions of the meaning, and desirability, of elections. Voting is clearly one of the principal

Impacts On the Political System

The research reported in this issue parallels other findings in implying a marked change in the character of American politics. These trends, perhaps phrased most graphically as &dquo;the onward march of party decomposition&dquo; (Burnham, 1970: ch. 5), may eventually bring the nation to a free-floating politics, in which prediction is hazardous, continuities are absent, and governmental responsibility is impossible to fix. The implications for meaningful democratic control are threatening. Despite their divergent foci and methods, the four articles presented here share certain conclusions. The most general finding is the greater variability of the vote, evident even in the

A Review of Party Reform Literature

Democratic party. Many of the contributors to the growing body of party reform literature have themselves been actively involved in party affairs. One explanation for this on-going professional involvement is that political parties are among the most open and easily penetrated of American political institutions. Scholars are not only able to study parties, but they can also tinker with party structure, become party leaders, and hold party office. The Spring 1981 issue of P.S. contains reports by sixteen political scientists who served as delegates to the 1980 national conventions. In a number of areas around the country, Committees for Party Renewal, composed of both political scientists and party activists, are holding meetings to discuss ways to strengthen the two-party system. Such participation at a policy-making level is usually not possible for students of the Pentagon, the United Nations, the Congress, or even major interest groups. Party activities and procedures are regulated by state law, and political scientists, like other citizens, have a right to participate with only minimal prerequisites, such as party registration. The reforms of recent years have further opened the parties to those who have knowledge of party procedures, and that usually includes political science professors. Finally, party leaders, recognizing a support group, often solicit and encourage academic participation; party activists from academia can move