Politics without Power: The National Party Committees

by Hennessy,Bernard C.

• ISBN13: 9780202363172
• ISBN10: 0202363171
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781351498180
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2009-07-15
• Publisher: Routledge
• More Book Details

Summary

The national committees of the major political parties inthe United States are symbols of party government. Theycarry forward a national heritage of peaceful change innational politics and administration. National committeesare substitutes for party ideologies, yet they are pretty muchheadless, drifting organizations. Cotter and Hennessy explainwhy this is the case, arguing that the vagueness of thecommittees’ responsibilities between presidential electionsis one of the main sources of their limitations.Politics without Power explains what the national committeesare, who belongs to them, where they are located inrelation to other politically oriented organizations, what theydo, and what steps might be taken to make better use of them.Although the authors’ descriptions in this classic volume arestraightforward, their recommendations are sweepingly bold.A few have been instituted in part, but most have yet to beadopted. If they were, it would completely change the makeupof the two committees and the political processes.Among their proposals are that the offices of nationalcommitteeman and committeewoman should be abolished,that the national chairman of the in-party continue to bechosen by the president or candidate, and the national chairmanof the out-party be the titular head of that committee.The out-party should have a party council to interpret theplatform and to recommend a platform to the national convention.There should be a tax credit for small contributionsto the national committee or state committees, and each nationalcommittee would have its own building shared withthe Congressional Campaign Committees. This book willinterest political scientists, politicians, and other studentsof American politics and elections.