Five Volumes on Two Conventions

...17.50...

...These books are the product of a project sponsored by the American Political Science Association with the cooperation of the Brookings Institution...

...Here, the editors stress the possibilities of the average voter in party nominating, the representative character of the convention delegates, and the absence of bossism...

...The four "regional" volumes, one each for the Northeast, South, Middle West and West, are not all of uniformly high quality...

...Thus, the excellent chapter on Texas, prepared largely from the field work of Professor O. Douglas Weeks, clearly sets forth the political results of the state's changing economy and population, as well as the power struggle that resulted in victory for the Eisenhower-Porter faction in the Republican party and for the Shivercrats in the Democratic...

...The 104 case histories of delegations to the National Conventions represent the combined research of more than 100 political scientists at over 70 colleges and universities...

...In the "national" or integrating volume, which makes excellent reading by itself, the editors (1) chronologically lay out the "national story," recounting the pre-convention activities and party conventions, and (2) review the procedures and experiences in the states...

...This "way"—the process of nominating candidates for the office of President of the United States?has now been made the subject of a five-volume study published by the Johns Hopkins Press...

...They write: "The old-time political bosses seem to be dying off without being replaced...

...On the other hand, many state delegations are chosen with a great deal of rank-and-file participation...

...A few sections, especially those on the smaller and politically less important states, seem to draw too heavily on newspaper accounts...

...They do a particularly good job of clarifying the chaotic patterns of state procedures...

...By October 1952, the then Executive Director of the APSA, Dr...

...2) they have adopted a research approach to political science that holds great promise and should give us insights into problems that have been too complex for the single researcher...

...The general level, however, is very high...

...1,630 pp...

...Political Science Department, Johns Hopkins...

...Some, like Michigan, Montana and Idaho, give little say to the rank-and-file party member, with the first step in the selection process occurring two years before the National Convention and obviously long before any candidates' hats are formally in the ring...

...Since four volumes are devoted to the states, the failure to accent the leadership on the national level somewhat distorts the overall picture...

...5 vols...

...Only indirectly do we see the roles played by Lodge, Brownell, Ingalls or Sullivan...

...No two states have identical methods of selecting delegates...

...Edward H. Litchfield, estimated that over 15,000 hours, or 7 1/2 man years, had already gone into the preparation of the field reports...

...But, more important, one wonders why there was not more stress on the candidates' national organizations...

...As for the events at the National Conventions, some will feel that the editors' emphasis is misplaced...

...Johns Hopkins University In the summer of 1952, following the two National Conventions in Chicago, the London Economist commented: "Europeans, viewing the clumsy chaos of the nominating conventions will be moved once more to reflect that God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform...

...This reader, for instance, wonders why what Richard Rovere called the "musical chairs" game at the Democratic convention was not stressed Here was a situation where it was necessary for a candidate to take a position that would distinguish him from his competitors, and, "owing to the shortage of ideas," the old New Dealer Alben Barkley oddly became the candidate of the party conservatives, while Averell Harriman filled the empty chair of the militant Democrats...

...the former close relationship between precinct captain and voter is disintegrating in the older urban areas...

...For two reasons, this is surely the most important work in political science this year: (1) Editors Paul T. David and Ralph M. Goldman, both of the Brookings Institution, and Professor Malcolm Moos of Johns Hopkins have brilliantly compiled a comprehensive study of a vital process that is indeed "mysterious" to the American observer...