Did Democracy Work? Prohibition in Late Nineteenth-Century Iowa: A Test Case

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Did Democracy Work? Prohibition in Late Nineteenth-Century Iowa: A Test Case Democracy is one of pillars on which American polity has rested. As idea of popular government matured in United States during late nineteenth century, democracy increasingly meant right of citizens to select men and philosophies that would guide and govern their communities. Historians customarily have looked back at past politics to assess correspondence between democratic theory and political practice. Critics have found fault with politics in United States in all eras, but distribution of indictments peak for late nineteenth century. During last third of I8oos, in orthodox view, system was not working according to its theoretical precept. The indictment thesis of late nineteenth-century politics couples several motifs. This was a time when immorality clouded political atmosphere, when bribery, boondoggles, and buncombe held sway over honesty and integrity. Political bosses and avaricious corporations sought patronage and profit, not resolution of pressing public concerns. In an era of reputed citizen indifference to a politics devoid of substantive issues, political parties eschewed alternative policy proposals and engaged in a selfinterested gamesmanship for political power. The state legislature symbolized alleged political irresponsibility of age. Over decades since Bryce concluded that the State legislatures are not high-toned bodies, few historians have seen reason to redeem their reputation. Beyond customary recitations of their corruption and inefficiency, domination by unscrupulous political managers, and frequent purchase by captains of industry, historians have had little more to say about past American state legislatures.1