A Note On Party Organization: the Democrats in California

Abstract

M AANY AMERICAN scholars have viewed with admiration the British party system. The Labour and Conservative parties present concrete programs to the electorate; if a party controls the government the voters expect the program to be implemented. When a British party takes a definite stand on a political question, it is confident that the members will support the party after as well as before the election; in the British system the party leaders are able to exert firm organizational control over the members in office. So it is said that the British system provides the electorate with effective and responsible party government, as befits a democracy.1 Of course the Republican and Democratic parties in none of our states function like British parties. American parties tend to be more irresponsible and ineffective political organizations. Not the organizations, but rather political figures quite independent of party control, dominate the American political scene. In California the political parties have conformed to this traditional pattern of American politics. And it has long been evident that the Democratic party in this state has been an especially irresponsible and ineffective political organization. It is, therefore, interesting that during the past few years the Party's character has been undergoing a marked transformation. This change promises to make the Party a more responsible as well as a more effective political organization. If this promise is fulfilled, the nature of party politics in Califoriia may be radically altered. California is, in a sense, a Democratic state. Since 1928 it has gone Democratic in five of six presidential elections. The Democrats have a three to two advantage in party registration; in 1952 approximately 3,312,000 voters registered Democratic, as against 2,197,000 Republicans. Since the Eisenhower victory the margin has narrowed, but in November of 1954 the Democrats still had an edge of 851,582 in registration.