Nonpartisan Electoral Systems in American Cities
- 1 January 1963
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Comparative Studies in Society and History
- Vol. 5 (2) , 212-226
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0010417500001614
Abstract
At regular intervals in the United States political parties conduct campaigns, the purpose of which is to elect their chosen candidates to public office. Each party seeks political power, guided in this pursuit by a complex set of election laws which spell out in detail the rights and duties of the parties. The electoral process is the mechanism by which power is maintained within a party or transferred to a competing party. The legitimate right of one party to take power from another when the people so elect is enforced. The ideal image of the American political system in action reflects two parties struggling to maximize the interests of their constituents in the hope of maximizing votes in the next election. Out of this struggle the rights of the people are preserved.Keywords
This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Politics of NonpartisanshipPublished by University of California Press ,1960
- The Insulation of Local Politics Under the Nonpartisan Ballot.American Political Science Review, 1959
- Local Party Systems: Theoretical Considerations and a Case AnalysisAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1958
- The Ecological Basis of Party Systems: The Case of OhioMidwest Journal of Political Science, 1957
- Some General Characteristics of Nonpartisan ElectionsAmerican Political Science Review, 1952