Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/87

 A SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW OF SOVEREIGNTY 73

individual citizen has practically no voice in government except through these party organizations. Consequently the state which protects his rights of citizenship must protect his rights of partisanship. If this protection is left to private manage- ment, the test will be his past devotion to the management. If it is put in the hands of the state, the test will be his present intention to support the party of his choice. This declaration of intention, rather than previous affiliation, is the test of citizen- ship whenever needed, as in naturalization, and should also be the test of partisanship, whenever needed. The only safeguard of such a test is the sovereign power of law.

As to the details of primary-election laws, here is not the place to describe them. 1 Different American states are experi- menting upon them with varying results. The object to be secured consists in recognizing the all-importance of the print- ing and handling of the ballot paper used at the primary elec- tions. This is the material basis of the party organization. He who decides upon the names of candidates that shall be printed upon this piece of paper and the names that shall be rejected holds the party membership in his control. The object to be secured consists also in recognizing the natural evolution of the organization toward centralization, based on the ballot paper and the control of the "workers," resulting in the dominion of one man. The next step is the readjustment of the organization in such a way that, while unity and efficiency are retained, yet the subordinate members of the party shall have an equal voice in determining the will of the management. This is the com- pleted socialization of parties.

A primary-election law of this kind gives a preponderance to the persuasive principles animating the membership of the party rather than to the machinery of its organization. In other words, it extracts the inherent coercive factors which have become powerful and visible in proportion as the party has become monopolistic and centralized, and leaves the peculiar persuasive factors which characterize the institution. This is done by

1 See Report of National Conference on Practical Reform of Primary Elections, as above.