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PRAISE FOR HOW TO BE A DESIGN STUDENT:

“One of the things I regret most in life is that I didn’t have Mitch
Goldstein as a teacher. With the benefit of his wisdom, wit, and
warmth, there’s no telling what I would have been able to accomplish.
The good news is that—thanks to this book—all of us can gain from
his insight and the joy of knowing that there’s still plenty left to do.”
—Michael Bierut, designer and educator

“Throw away all your assumptions and dive into this book. Even if
you’re not sure about design school—or any creative or craft-focused
major—this is a must-read. This book has me wishing I could go to
college all over again. A must-have playbook for prospective and
current design students and teachers.”
—Jaime Derringer, founder, Design Milk

“It’s true, there is skill to the practice of being a student, but it is often
forgotten amid concerns of getting a job and other goals of post-
graduation. How to Be a Design Student is an invitation to learn how
to fuel your creative practice as a design student and keep it fueled as
a working professional.”
—Meena Khalili, faculty, University of South Carolina

“This must-read list of actualized considerations will prepare the

student, challenge the educator, and enlighten the parent in us all.
Ready your mind to hear from a seasoned and perpetually curious
design educator with the tone of a caring, introspective, and observant
mentor who has your best interest at heart.”
—David Jon Walker, MFA candidate, Yale School of Art
“With his signature wisdom and wit, Mitch Goldstein offers a
generous examination of design education from both the students’ and
teachers’ points of view. His insights go a long way to remove
apprehension and ease misunderstandings in design education.”
—Nancy Skolos and Thomas Wedell, faculty, Rhode Island School
of Design
For all of my students, and all of my teachers, both
of whom have taught me far more than I have
taught them.
CONTENTS

Foreword by Jarrett Fuller

Preface: Should You Read This Book?

UNDERSTANDING DESIGN SCHOOL

Chapter 1: Why Go to Design School?
Chapter 2: Learning Curiosity
Chapter 3: Process and Practice
Chapter 4: Discomfort
Chapter 5: Teammates

IN THE STUDIO
Chapter 6: Pulling
Chapter 7: Agency and You-ness
Chapter 8: Failure
Chapter 9: Grades
Chapter 10: The Critique
Chapter 11: Collaboration
Chapter 12: Inspiration
Chapter 13: Tourists, Travelers, and Citizens
Chapter 14: Organization
Chapter 15: Human First

OFF CAMPUS
Chapter 16: School Is Not Over
Chapter 17: What About an MFA?
Chapter 18: Remember Your Friends
Chapter 19: Heroes
Chapter 20: Who Are You?

Acknowledgments
About the Author
FOREWORD

JARRETT FULLER

When I was a design student, I knew what design was. I was a

precocious teenager, arriving at design school already having read a
handful of design books, and I could rattle off some famous designers
from history. I was told design was the sensible profession for
someone with an artistic bent, and I agreed. In design school, defining
design was easy: I spent my days picking colors and fonts, laying out
pages and drawing logos. My classmates and I would laugh at the
poor kerning on our dorm’s signage—because that’s what designers
did. I was going to spend the rest of my life making magazines or
designing book covers or building websites. I loved it.
But it didn’t quite turn out that way. In the fifteen years since I was
a freshman undergraduate design student, I’ve designed websites and
brands, exhibitions and books, mobile apps and live events. But I’ve
also made podcasts, written essays, edited publications, and taught
design classes. This strange set of activities I’ve cobbled together into a
career doesn’t look like the design I thought I knew when I was
eighteen. Yet, for some reason—whether I’m teaching a class or
interviewing someone on a podcast, writing a text or editing a book—
I still call myself a designer.
As my own work changed, so did the world. The iPhone came out
during my first year of college, and Instagram debuted the semester I
graduated. The latter would not have been possible without the
former, and in the few years immediately after I graduated, new
markets and industries were created around these technologies. New
possibilities for design opened up. There were opportunities to design
in areas that hadn’t existed a few years earlier when I was in school,
while things I thought I’d be doing had already become obsolete. The
tools changed, and the language evolved. Design, it turns out, is so
much bigger than I had ever imagined. The truth is, I am still—always,
forever—a design student. The title of the book now in your hand—
How to Be a Design Student—then is misleading. We are all, after all,
design students. Fifteen years out, the only thing I can know for sure is
that I have no idea what design is.
I met Mitch Goldstein—like I suspect many people did—on
Twitter. I immediately felt I had found a kindred spirit. Here was
someone else who proudly declared he did not know what design was.
Over the years, I’ve had the joy of talking with Mitch outside of
Twitter—on podcasts and phone calls, lengthy emails and Zoom
sessions (we will meet in person one day!). We share a bond over the
blurriness of design, a greater interest in raising questions than in
providing answers, and a belief in the noble act of teaching. Mitch is
energized, not intimidated, by the expansiveness of design and its
potential. When I’ve made career changes—from designer to grad
student, then grad student to educator—I’ve asked his perspective and
haven’t regretted it. Lucky for you, he’s packaged the wisdom I’ve
received in those conversations into the book in your hands.
This book doesn’t resort to easy definitions and binaries. Instead,
it’s a book that leans into fuzziness with a generosity, vulnerability,
and bigheartedness that feels all too rare. This is not a book that will
teach you how to design a logo or build a chair or code an app. You
will not learn how to assemble a portfolio that guarantees you a job.
What you will learn, however, is how to be and stay curious. You will
learn how to embrace confusion and be prepared for whatever is
invented right after you graduate. It’s a book that helps you make
sense of this confusing, energizing, creative, intellectual, frustrating,
and incredible time in your life. It gives real, practical advice on topics
without oversimplifying or reducing them.
 This is the book I wish I’d had when I was a design student, and I
can’t tell you how happy I am that I have it now, as someone who
teaches design students. Because it’s a book for teachers, too (we are,
after all, students, too!). As design educators, we, too, can—must!—
lean into constant change. We can create environments for exploration
and experimentation, breakthroughs and failures. We can help create
the conditions for students to see design not reductively but
expansively. We can cocreate, together with our students, new ways of
making and thinking and talking about design.
I often tell my students that I don’t know what design is. I also tell
them that I firmly believe that each generation’s designers get to
redefine design for themselves. The design of yesterday isn’t the same
as the design of today, and that isn’t the same as the design of
tomorrow. Your time in design school has the potential to be one of
the most creative and intellectually stimulating experiences in your life
(this is why I teach now). Don’t squander it like I did, thinking you
have all the answers, thinking you know what design is. Don’t spend
those four years worrying about grades or jobs or portfolios. Your
only job—as a student, as an educator, as a designer, as a human—is
to be open to the experience. This, I think, can lead to a long and
generative life in design and beyond. This book will give you the tools
to begin defining design for yourself. We can learn from each other.

Jarrett Fuller
North Carolina State University College of Design
PREFACE

SHOULD YOU READ THIS BOOK?

College is, to put it lightly, a huge commitment.

A huge commitment of time and money, for sure, but also a huge commitment of
your mind: you will work harder and think more deeply during this time than you
likely ever have before. Especially if you enroll right out of high school, college may be
the first time you have been socially and mentally independent. You will meet many
new people, be exposed to new ideas, new cultures, new opinions, new ideologies, new
art, new experiences, new books, new music, new environments, new everything.
To put it simply: if you are going to make such an enormous commitment, you need
to make it worth it. That is why I wrote this book—to help you get the most out of
design school while you are there.
Having taught college students for more than eighteen years, I have spent a long,
long time thinking deeply about how I teach, how I learn, how I make art and design,
and how teaching, learning, and making are all related to each other in a complex and
incredibly interesting way. There is quite a bit of advice out there about what to do
while at design school. A quick social media search will bring no shortage of bite-size
nuggets of wisdom on how to act as a design student and what to do while you are at
school (and more than a few of those nuggets will come from my own social media
accounts). What I have not found is a deep, thoughtful, understandable, and accessible
book that explores all aspects of how to get the most out of the design school
experience, in a way that makes sense for someone either just starting their education,
or someone thinking about attending a design school.
This book is based on many successes as a teacher and a student, and many, many,
many more failures. It will provide insight for current design students, no matter what
stage they are at in their education; offer a guide for those considering going to design
school so they can understand what really happens there every day; and help educators
Other documents randomly have
different content
officeholder whenever his work gives offence to any influential
element among the voters, the recall procedure would soon become
an intolerable nuisance in that it would be continually bringing the
people to the polls. It would likewise deter independent and capable
men from accepting office at all. But as a matter of fact the recall
has not been widely used. For the most part the people have held it
in reserve for emergencies. It is like a fire-escape on the outside of a
building, not to be used at all under ordinary circumstances, but
exceedingly valuable when an emergency comes.
General References
James Bryce, Modern Democracies, Vol. I, pp. 151-164 (Public Opinion); Vol. II,
pp. 417-434 (Direct Legislation by the People);
A. L. Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government, pp. 113-232 (Methods of
Expressing Public Opinion);
A. B. Hart, Actual Government, pp. 270-273 (Appointing Power); 276-294 (Civil
Service);
W. B. Munro, Government of the United States, pp. 501-521 (Direct Legislation
and the Recall);
E. M. Phelps (editor), Initiative and Referendum (Debaters’ Handbook Series);
Delos F. Wilcox, Government by All the People (The Arguments in Favor), pp.
104-128; 149-163;
Arnold B. Hall, Popular Government (The Arguments Against), pp. 120-143.
Group Problems
1. What is public opinion? How is it formed? Influence of the press. News
columns and editorials. The press and propaganda. Influence of advertisers. The
large measure of independence in the press. Resolutions of organizations.
Communications to legislators. Relative importance of the various channels of
public opinion. References: A. V. Dicey, The Relations between Law and Public
Opinion in England, pp. 17-47; James Bryce, American Commonwealth, Vol. II, pp.
251-266; Ibid., Modern Democracies, Vol. I, pp. 92-110; 151-164; A. L. Lowell,
Public Opinion and Popular Government, pp. 4-56; G. H. Payne, History of
Journalism in the United States, pp. 347-359 and passim; Arnold B. Hall, Popular
Government, pp. 25-44; Walter Lippman, Liberty and the News, passim.
2. The initiative and referendum in their practical workings.
References: J. D. Barnett, The Operation of the Initiative, Referendum and Recall
in Oregon, pp. 101-125; Illinois Constitutional Convention (1920), Bulletins, No. 2;
Massachusetts Constitutional Convention (1917-1918), Bulletins, No. 6; A. L.
Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government, pp. 169-239; D. F. Wilcox,
Government by All the People, pp. 229-320; Arnold B. Hall, Popular Government,
pp. 120-143.
3. The civil service system: its progress, aims, and methods.
References: A. B. Hart, Actual Government, pp. 276-294; C. A. Beard, American
Government and Politics, pp. 222-230; P. S. Reinsch, Readings in American Federal
Government, pp. 683-702; W. B. Munro, Government of American Cities, pp. 271-
290; C. R. Fish, The Civil Service and the Patronage, passim; J. T. Young, The New
American Government and its Work, pp. 592-608.
Short Studies
1. The responsibility of public officials. F. A. Cleveland, Organized
Democracy, pp. 394-409.
2. The function of a representative. J. W. Jenks, Principles of Politics, pp. 77-
84; J. S. Mill, On Representative Government (Everyman’s Library), pp. 202-218;
228-241.
3. The election vs. the appointment of public officials. John M. Mathews,
Principles of American State Administration, pp. 173-190.
4. The spoils system. James Bryce, American Commonwealth, Vol. II, pp. 136-
145; James A. Woodburn, Political Parties and Party Problems, pp. 254-265. See also
W. D. Foulke, Fighting the Spoilsmen, passim.
5. Training for public service. W. H. Allen, Training for the Public Service, pp.
164-200.
6. How civil service tests are given. L. F. Fuld, Police Administration, pp. 75-
97.
7. The public service as a profession. A. L. Lowell, Public Opinion and
Popular Government, pp. 264-305; W. H. Allen, Training for the Public Service, pp.
164-181; E. A. Fitzpatrick, Experts in City Government, pp. 71-104.
8. The recall of public officers. Arnold B. Hall, Popular Government, pp. 203-
241.
Questions
1. How many “organs” of public opinion can you name? How does each exert an
influence? Which one do you consider the most influential?
2. Is public opinion always the sentiment of the majority? If it is not, explain
why. Give a concrete illustration.
3. Do you agree with Edmund Burke’s ideas as to the proper function of a
representative?
4. When the question of woman suffrage was before the United States Senate,
and only one additional vote was needed to pass it, a certain senator declared that
while he was personally in favor of granting the suffrage to women the people of
his own state had just voted against the proposal and he therefore felt bound to
follow their judgment. Was he right or wrong in taking that attitude?
 5. Make a list of the administrative officers of your state and community,
indicating which ones should be elected and which appointed. Can you think of
any proper exceptions to the rule that all administrative offices requiring skill or
experience should be filled by appointment?
6. What arguments were put forward in behalf of the spoils system?
7. What sort of civil service tests ought to be applied in selecting persons for the
following positions: truck-and-ladder driver in the fire department; gardener in the
public park service; bookkeeper in the office of the state treasurer; member of the
United States life-saving service; railway-mail clerk; analyst of food and drugs;
inspector of wires and lamps; woman police officer; probation officer; draftsman in
the state highway department.
8. In a city of 100,000 population what positions would you exempt from civil
service rules?
9. Is good government more important than popular government? Can a
government be both democratic and efficient? Do you regard appointments by
competition as undemocratic? Why or why not?
10. Work out a plan by which promotions in the police department could be
made under the merit system (consider the possibility of giving credits for
punctuality, acts of courage, number of arrests, etc., and of making deductions for
neglect of duty, etc.).
11. What is the strongest argument for direct legislation and what is the
weakest? Which argument on the other side impresses you the most and which
the least?
12. Is it more dangerous to subject judges to the possibility of recall than other
officials?
Topics for Debate
1. A congressman should obey his conscience rather than his constituents when
he cannot obey both.
2. Heads of state and city administrative departments should be chosen under
civil service rules.
3. The initiative and referendum should be extended to national lawmaking.
 CHAPTER VII
SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS

The purpose of this chapter is to explain who have the right to vote, how
the voters nominate public officials, and how elections are held.
 Suffrage
How the Voters Control the Government. Direct and indirect
—A democratic government is one in which the popular control.
people, acting directly or through their representatives, control the
course of public affairs. This control may be exercised, as has been
pointed out, in either one of two ways. It may be exercised directly,
that is, by the use of the initiative and referendum. The proposal for
a law comes from a designated number of voters, and the adoption
or rejection of the proposal is decided by a majority of the voters at
the polls.
It is easy to see, however, that the people cannot perform the
entire work of government in this direct way. There are too many
laws to be made, too many details of administration to be handled,
and too many disputes to be adjusted. So most of the work of
government is carried on by persons who are chosen by the voters
for this purpose or who are appointed to office by the
representatives of the people. Elective officials, as a rule, have
authority to determine matters of general policy in nation, state, or
municipality, while appointive officials, for the most part, carry out
the policy thus determined upon.
 GOVERNMENT. By Elihu Vedder

From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston.

Reproduced by permission.

GOVERNMENT

By Elihu Vedder
From a mural decoration in the Library of Congress.
Mr. Vedder portrays Government as a mature woman
in the fullness of her strength. She is seated upon a
bench of hewn marble, which is supported by the
figures of two lions—all emblematic of strength and
power. Behind is an oak tree, which typifies slow,
deep-rooted growth. In symbolic pictures the ballot
box is usually represented as an urn. Here the marble
bench rests upon urn-shaped vases. In the lions’
mouths are mooring-rings to remind us that the ship of
state must not drift aimlessly but should be moored to
strength.
 In her left hand Government grasps a golden sceptre
(the Golden Rule) to signify that all her actions are
based upon respect for the rights of others; her right
hand holds a tablet upon which is graven a notable
epigram from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. On either
side of Government are two genii or mythical figures.
One holds a bridle which typifies restraint, discipline,
and order—the bulwark of effective government. The
other supports an unsheathed sword, emblematic of
defence and justice.
In this picture, therefore, the author prefigures the
outstanding marks of a successful free government—
strength; fairness, democracy, restraint, security, and
justice.

The Citizen and the Voter.—Government by the people does

not, of course, mean government by all the people. In every country
there are many persons who are not competent Not all citizens are
to exercise a share in the government. Very voters.
young persons, for example, do not have maturity of judgment,
which a share in government requires. Insane persons, prisoners in
jails, aliens, and others are also, for obvious reasons, usually
debarred from the privilege of voting. It is not to be assumed that
everyone who is a citizen is also a voter. All persons born or
naturalized in the United States and subject to American jurisdiction
are citizens no matter what their ages or mental capacity may be,
but not all are voters. The voters are those upon whom the privilege
of voting has been conferred by law. In the United States they
comprise a large proportion of the adults but they do not form a
majority of the entire population. Out of a national population of
about one hundred and five millions the voters of the United States
number about thirty-five millions. This number is quite large enough
to ensure an adequately representative government.
Development of the Suffrage.—Voting is a The gradual
privilege and duty rather than a right. In the widening of the
earlier states of American history the privilege of suffrage
voting was restricted to property-owners and taxpayers. This
condition of affairs, moreover, continued for a considerable period
after the Revolutionary War. One by one, however, the various states
began to abolish their restrictions and by the middle of the
nineteenth century the principle of manhood suffrage had become
firmly established so far as the white population was concerned. The
struggle for the extension of the suffrage to men who did not own
property was a prolonged and bitter contest in which the opponents
of manhood suffrage vainly argued that the extension would put all
political leadership into the hands of noisy agitators and would end
in the ruin of orderly government. But manhood suffrage ultimately
triumphed because the country came to the conclusion that the
structure of democratic government could be made more secure by
broadening the base upon which it rests.
Negro Suffrage.—In the Southern states The rights of the
prior to the Civil War colored men were excluded negro.
from voting at all elections. But with the emancipation of the slaves
the question of guaranteeing the suffrage to colored men had to be
faced. By the terms of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to
the national constitution no state is permitted to withhold voting
rights from any man on account of his color; if it does so, the
constitution provides that such state shall have its number of
representatives in Congress reduced. As a matter of fact, however,
there has always been a very strong sentiment among the white
population of the Southern states in opposition to political equality
on the part of the colored element, and this has prevented the
enforcement of the guarantees contained in the constitution.
By various devices the Southern states have How negroes are
for the most part excluded negroes from excluded from
suffrage. One of these is the requirement that voting.
all voters shall be able to read and write. If this provision were
impartially applied to the white and the colored population alike; if
all illiterate persons irrespective of color were excluded, this action
would be entirely justified. But the aim of the South is to eliminate
the negro as a voter whether he is illiterate or not.[34] The attitude of
the white population in the South is not difficult to understand. In
the days immediately following the Civil War the colored men were
given the ballot in all the Southern states, and the results were
disastrous. Unfit men were elected to office, public money was spent
wastefully, and government was badly conducted in all these states
under the domination of the colored voters. As a result the white
population took the control once more into its own hands and has
kept it there. But this can scarcely be regarded as a final solution of
the problem. No political problem can be solved in this country in
defiance of the constitution. Many Southerners realize this and are
endeavoring to find some solution which will be for the best interests
of the negro while protecting the white man’s political supremacy.
The negro question is particularly the Southerner’s problem; he
knows the colored race as no Northerner can; and if he cannot settle
it justly and wisely, no man can.
The Nineteenth Amendment.—It is now The extension of
more than fifty years since women first began to the suffrage to
claim, in this country, the right to equal political women.
privileges with men. Those who supported this claim argued that
women were quite competent to assume an active share in
government and that in some branches of public administration
(such as the management of schools and the enforcement of the
laws regulating child labor) women have an even greater interest
than men. Women were required to pay taxes and it was urged that
on this account they were entitled to representation. On the other
hand the extension of the suffrage to women was opposed on the
ground that it would tend to weaken the interest of women in the
home, thus impairing the strength of the family as a social unit, and
also that women would not use the ballot wisely. They would be
influenced by their sympathies and emotions rather than by their
judgment, it was predicted, and would bring an element of instability
into public policy. Another objection commonly raised was that with
twice as many voters the cost of holding elections would be doubled.
But despite these objections the movement for woman suffrage
made gradual headway in one state after another and finally, in
1920, it was made compulsory upon the entire country by the
provisions of the Nineteenth Amendment.[35]
Present Qualifications for Voting.—Each Citizenship, age,
state decides who shall not vote. Each state has and residence.
entire freedom to do as it thinks best in this matter subject only to
the provisions of the national constitution, which stipulate that the
privilege of voting shall not be denied to any citizen by reason of
sex, or because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
There is no reason, therefore, why the qualifications for voting
should be the same in all parts of the country, and as a matter of
fact they differ a little from state to state. At present the restrictions
relate mainly to age, citizenship, and residence, but sometimes also
to literacy and taxpaying. In every state the privilege of voting is
restricted to persons who are twenty-one years of age or over. As for
the residence requirement it varies considerably in different states,
running usually from six months to a year. It is imposed in order to
make sure that those who vote in any community shall be somewhat
acquainted with its affairs. In most of the states none but citizens
are permitted to vote, but in two or three states the privilege is
extended to those aliens who have declared their intention of
becoming citizens.
Educational Tests for Voters.—Educational qualifications for
voting, in one form or another, exist in nearly one-third of the states.
[36]
In some the requirement is that anyone who desires to be
enrolled as a voter shall be able to write his name and also to read
aloud any clause taken at random from the state constitution.
Exemptions from this test are always granted to persons who by
mere reason of physical disability are unable to read or write.
Several of the Southern states have provided additional
exemptions which result in excusing from the test all white persons
who are unable to read and write while strictly applying the
requirement to all colored applicants. Various How educational
methods are employed to this end. In one case tests are applied.
the provision is that no one may be registered as a voter unless he
can read any clause in the state constitution or “give a reasonable
interpretation thereof”. The white officials in charge of the
registration then decide, in their own discretion, whether the
interpretation is reasonable or not. In some other states the attempt
has been made by what is commonly known as the “grandfather
clause” to excuse from the literacy test all persons who had the right
to vote before 1867, and all descendants of such persons. As there
were no colored voters in any of the Southern states prior to this
date the “grandfather clause” virtually establishes a racial
discrimination which the Supreme Court, a few years ago, declared
to be unconstitutional.
Is an Educational Test Desirable?—In the majority of the
states men and women are permitted to vote even though unable to
read or write. The question is often asked whether this practice is
wise. Would it be better to insist on an elementary educational
qualification everywhere, or is it desirable that in a democracy no
distinction be made between those who can read and those who
cannot?
On the one hand it is argued that men and The arguments for
women who have never had the advantages of a and against
grammar school education may nevertheless be educational tests.
good, patriotic citizens, and indeed may be better informed upon
questions of government and politics than some who have had far
greater educational advantages. People are not required to read and
write before they are permitted to own property or compelled to pay
taxes. Men who could neither read nor write were drafted to serve in
the army during the war. If, then, we compel illiterate persons to
perform the duties of citizenship, ought we not to grant its privileges
to them as well? But there is something to be said on the other side
of this question. Bear in mind that we provide free public elementary
education for everyone in the United States. The privilege of learning
to read and write is not the privilege of a single class; it is within the
reach of everyone. We no longer allow aliens to enter the United
States unless they can read and write, nor can any illiterate person
become naturalized. Under these circumstances is it unreasonable to
require an elementary educational test for voting? It may be true
that persons who are unable to read are able to mark a certain type
of ballot without spoiling it, but they can hardly hope to exercise an
intelligent choice as among individual candidates on the ballot; they
are unable to use any ballot which does not arrange the names of
candidates in straight party columns and they cannot vote upon
referendum questions except by mere guess-work. If we are
regularly going to submit questions to the voters at the polls for
their decision, should not the voting lists be confined to those who
are at least able to read the questions?
Tax-Paying Qualifications for Voting.—In a few states the
male suffrage is restricted to persons who have been assessed for a
poll tax. Massachusetts has such a provision and enforces it strictly.
Some Southern states also impose this qualification, partly, no
doubt, because it is effective in debarring large numbers of colored
men who are remiss in paying their annual poll taxes. There is a
difference, of course, between a taxpaying qualification and a
property qualification. Many people pay taxes, income and poll
taxes, for example, without owning any property. Nowhere in the
United States is the ownership of property a requirement for voting
at national elections.
These, then, are the general and special The requirements
qualifications. It will be observed that since each vary from state to
state prescribes its own requirements, no two of state.
them establish the same qualifications, or, if they do, it is merely by
accident. It is not strictly true that every adult citizen of the United
States has the privilege of voting; but it is approximately true. Those
who are excluded by the residence, educational, or tax paying
qualifications (apart from colored citizens in the Southern states)
form a relatively small fraction of the total adult citizenship, probably
less than ten per cent.[37]
How Voters are Registered.—In order to The registrars of
obtain a ballot on election day it is necessary voters.
that one’s name shall be on the voters’ list. This list is prepared by
officials designated for this purpose in every community or district.
These officials are commonly known as registrars of voters. Whoever
desires to be enrolled must appear before these registrars and
usually must make a sworn statement as to age, citizenship,
residence, and other qualifications. If there is an educational test, it
is applied by the registrars. The printed lists of enrolled voters are
then posted for public inspection.[38] In some states a new voters’ list
is compiled every year, and it thus becomes necessary for everyone
to register annually. In others it is the practice to keep a voter’s
name on the list so long as he continues to pay poll taxes.[39] But in
any case the only way a voter can be sure of having his name on the
list at every election is to give this matter his personal attention. In
the eyes of the law voting is a privilege, not a right, and the voter is
responsible for seeing that he obtains his privilege.
 Nominations
Why Nominations are Essential.—The The chief purpose
choice of elective public officials usually involves of nominations.
two steps—the nomination and the election. Nominations may be
made, and they are sometimes made, by a caucus or by a
convention of delegates. More often, however, they are made by the
voters at a preliminary election or primary. But the question may
fairly be asked: Why have nominations at all? Why not give the
voters blank ballots and let them write in whatever names they
please? Apart from the fact that many voters (in states which impose
no educational test) would not be able to write, there is the
objection that so many different persons would be voted for that no
one would have anything like a majority. In order to ensure that
those who are elected will represent the choice of a substantial body
of the voters and if possible an actual majority, it is desirable that
there be some way of eliminating all but the stronger candidates.
That is why we provide for formal nominations.
History of Nominating Methods.—During the past hundred
years or more we have tried a variety of nominating methods. First
came the caucus, sometimes a gathering of legislators and
sometimes of voters, brought together to select a candidate. The
caucus gave place, in time, to the convention, The convention
which is a body of delegates chosen by the method.
voters of each locality. To this day the convention remains the
mechanism by which nominations are in some cases made. But the
convention method, for a variety of reasons, did not prove
satisfactory and it has been replaced, throughout the greater portion
of the United States, by the system of nomination at a primary
election.
The Primary.—The primary, in our electoral Different forms of
system corresponds to the “qualifying trials” in primary.
athletic contests. Its purpose is to see that the race is confined to
the swift. It eliminates those who have no chance to win. Those who
desire to be candidates for any public office present their names on
nomination papers, each of which must bear the signatures of so
many qualified voters—say twenty-five or fifty. The names of the
candidates are placed on a ballot, and a primary election is held
some time before the regular election. But the details of primary
elections differ somewhat from state to state. An open primary is
one at which voters are not restricted to the ballot or column of their
own party, but may exercise entire freedom of choice among all the
names on the primary ballot. In some states there are party
primaries or closed primaries. This means that none may vote at the
primary except those who are members of a political party.[40] Each
party may hold its primary on a different date, in which case it is
called a separate primary; or both parties may hold their primaries
together, in which case we call it a joint primary. At a joint primary
there may be a separate ballot for the voters of each party or there
may be a single ballot which contains the names of different party
candidates in parallel columns. In some cities and towns another
form, the non-partisan primary, is provided, in which case the ballot
bears no party designations at all. The procedure at a primary
election is like that of a regular election, with printed ballots, ballot
boxes, and regular officials in charge of the polls.
Merits and Defects of the Primary.—As a Advantages of the
method of making nominations the primary, primary.
whether closed, open, or non-partisan, has both merits and defects.
It is better than the convention in that it places nominations directly
in the hands of the voters, thus making it more difficult for party
bosses to dictate who the candidates shall be. Conventions
consisting of a relatively small number of delegates, many of them
officeholders, can be manipulated by wire-pulling politicians.
Nominations made by conventions have frequently been, for that
reason, very unsatisfactory to the rank and file of the voters. The
primary gives an opportunity to the man or woman who is popular
with the voters although not popular with the politicians. It tends to
break down some of the worst abuses of the party system.
 On the other hand there are some practical Objections to it.
objections to the primary as a method of making
nominations and a vigorous fight is now being waged to abolish it. A
primary means an additional election with all the attendant
campaigning and expense. The total vote cast at a primary is often
small; hence the candidate who gains the nomination may or may
not be the real choice of his party.[41] The primary puts a burden
upon those who seek to gain elective public office, for they must
virtually fight and win two successive battles at the polls. To do this
takes so much time that men and women who have business of their
own to attend to are often deterred from becoming candidates. The
field of political activity thus tends to become monopolized by
professional politicians who have nothing else to do. The primary
contests are so bitter at times that they create dissensions in the
party ranks and weaken the party at the ensuing election. The use of
the primary has not enabled us to get rid of political bosses; it has
merely made them work a great deal harder to retain control.
In some states the political parties have A new
adopted the practice of holding an “informal” development.
convention some few weeks before the date of the primary. This
convention, which is composed of unofficial delegates, makes
recommendations as to the candidates who ought to be voted for by
members of the party at the primary. Members of the party are free,
of course, to do as they please at the primary, but the
recommendations made by an “informal” convention, in view of the
fact that they are largely the work of acknowledged party leaders,
carry a good deal of weight.
One result of the primary system has been, This means a
therefore, to complicate our electoral machinery. further
If the practice of holding informal conventions complication.
becomes general, there will be four steps which a party will have to
take in order to put its candidates in office, first the informal
convention, then the primary, then the official convention which
drafts the platform, and finally the election. Surely it should be
possible to elect our public officials under some less complicated
arrangement than this.[42]
 Elections
How an Election is Held.—The date on The election day.
which an election is held is fixed by law. National
elections always take place on the Tuesday following the first
Monday in November.[43] State elections are usually, although not
always, held on the same date. Local elections take place on such
dates as the state laws or city charters provide. It is usually thought
best that local elections shall not be held on the same day as the
state or national elections because of a desire to keep national and
state politics out of local affairs. When national, state, and local
elections are held on the same day the tendency is for the voters to
focus their whole attention on national and state issues, giving very
little attention to the problems of their own communities. The names
of candidates for the local offices are away down near the bottom of
the ballot where they appear relatively unimportant. Separate
elections involve additional expense, however, and increase the
number of times a voter has to come to the polls.[44]
The voting is done at polling places, one or Polling places and
more of which are located in each precinct. The poll officers.
precinct is a small division of the county, town, or city; as a rule it
does not contain more than four or five hundred voters. The polling
place is in charge of officials, commonly known as poll-wardens or
inspectors, who are appointed by the state or local authorities. They
are assisted by clerks. The duty of these various officials is to open
the poll, give ballots to persons who are registered and to no others,
count the votes after the poll is closed, and report the results to the
authorities who are in charge of the elections. They are responsible
for the lawful and honest conduct of the polling. Each party is also
allowed to have one or more “watchers” at the polling place and
these watchers have the right to challenge any person whom they
believe to be an impostor. When anyone is challenged he may take
oath that he is entitled to vote, in which case he will be given a
ballot; but such ballots are counted separately. When a voter
receives a ballot, his name is checked off the voters’ list. Various
stalls or booths are provided, into one of which the voter then goes
and marks his ballot privately. Having finished marking it he folds the
ballot and hands it to one of the polling officials who, in the
presence of the voter, deposits it in the ballot box. Polls are kept
open during designated hours, usually from six or seven o’clock in
the morning until five or six o’clock in the afternoon.
The Ballot.—The history of the ballot in the History of balloting.
United States is interesting. 1. Oral voting.
Originally all votes were
given orally. The voter came to the polling place, stated his choice
aloud and the poll officials wrote it down. The objection to this plan
was that it precluded secrecy and left the voters open to
intimidation. Then paper ballots came into use, each party providing
ballots for its own members. Outside the polling 2. The party ballot.
place, at each election, stood a group of party
workers each armed with a handful of ballots, which were
distributed to the voters as they came. This method also was
objectionable. It encouraged the voting of a Objections to the
“straight party ticket”, in other words it took for party ballot.
granted that everyone wished to vote for the entire slate of party
candidates without exception. If the voter desired to do otherwise, it
was necessary for him to scratch out the unacceptable names and
write others in. Most voters would not go to this trouble. This
method of balloting was not secret, because a voter could be
watched from the time he received his ballot outside the polling
place until he deposited it in the box. This was an encouragement to
bribery and intimidation. It also facilitated fraud at elections since
there was no limit upon the number of ballots printed by the parties
and it was not difficult for dishonest voters or corrupt officials to slip
extra ballots into the box. This abuse, known as “stuffing” the ballot
box could only be prevented by having all the ballots officially
printed. When a definite number of official ballots is given to each
polling place every ballot must be accounted for.
 In nearly all the states, therefore, an official 3. The Australian
ballot is now used. This is commonly known as ballot.
the Australian ballot. Usually the names of all the candidates are
printed in parallel columns, each party having a column of its own,
with the name and insignia of the party at the top. Immediately
below the insignia is a circle in which the voter, by marking a cross,
may record his vote for every one of the candidates in the entire
column. The voter who does this is said to vote a “straight ticket”.
But if he desires to vote for some of the candidates in the column of
one party and for some in the column of another party, he leaves the
circle unmarked and places a cross after such individual names as he
may choose. This is called voting a “split ticket”. In some states
there are no party columns; the names of the candidates are printed
on the ballot in alphabetical order, each name followed by a party
designation. In a few large cities, such as Boston and Cleveland, the
party designation is omitted. Here the voter must pick and choose
individually. The party-column arrangement encourages the voting of
straight tickets; the alphabetical plan does not.[45]
The Short Ballot.—Throughout the United Evils of the long
States the number of elective offices steadily ballot.
increased during the nineteenth century. The result was that ballots
gradually became longer until in some cases the voters found
themselves confronted with sheets of paper containing a hundred
names or even more. It proved exceedingly difficult to use proper
discrimination among so many names and hence there arose an
agitation for simplifying the ballot by reducing the number of
positions to be filled by election. In a democratic government all
officials who have authority to decide questions of general policy—
the President, senators, representatives, governors, assemblymen,
mayors, councilors, and the like—ought to be chosen by popular
vote. But there are many other officials, such as state auditors,
county clerks, and superintendents of schools, whose duties are
chiefly administrative. These officials carry out a policy which is laid
down for them by law, and it is contended that they should not be
elected but appointed. If all such officials were made appointive, the
size of the ballot would be considerably reduced, and the voters
could concentrate their attention upon a smaller number of names.
A ballot is not an effective instrument of popular government
unless it is simple enough for the average voter to use intelligently.
When a ballot is so long, so complicated, and so unwieldy that the
voter is tempted by sheer exhaustion into voting a straight party
ticket, then the party leaders, and not the people, are really
choosing the officers of government. The movement for a “short
ballot” aims to make government more truly democratic, not less so.
The Preferential Ballot.—Another defect of Defects of the
the ordinary ballot is that it allows the voter to ordinary ballot.
indicate only a single choice for each office. If there are five
candidates for the office of mayor, let us say, the voter may mark his
ballot for one of them only. He is not permitted to indicate who
would be his second choice, or his third choice among the five.
Whichever candidate gets the largest number of first choices among
the voters is the winner, although he may be the choice of a small
minority. To prevent this likelihood of election by a minority when
there are several candidates in the field for a single office a system
of “preferential voting” is sometimes used.
Where the preferential ballot is in use, as it is How the
in several American cities, the voters are asked preferential system
to indicate, in columns provided for this works.
purpose, not only their first but their second and third choices and
even their further choices among the various candidates. The names
of those candidates whom the voter does not want to support are
left unmarked. When preferential ballots are counted, any candidate
who has a clear majority of first choices is declared elected. But if no
candidate obtains a majority of first choices, the second choices are
added to the first choices and if the two totals combined give what
would be a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate who received
them is declared elected. In like manner the third choices are
resorted to if necessary.[46] The candidate elected by the preferential
system is practically always the choice of a majority among the
voters, not the first choice of a majority always, but one whom a
majority have indicated their willingness to support. The chief
practical objection to the preferential ballot is that many voters do
not take the trouble to mark their second and third choices.
Proportional Representation.[47]— The problem of
Preferential voting should be distinguished from minority
proportional representation, which is a plan of representation.
choosing legislative bodies in such a way that all considerable groups
of voters will be represented in proportion to their own numbers.
Whenever several representatives are elected on the same ballot it
usually happens that one political party secures them all. So many
voters adhere to the “straight ticket” that the entire party slate wins.
The minority party, even though it may comprise nearly half the
voters, in such cases obtains no representation at all. This, of
course, does not give us a true system of representative
government; hence various plans have been put forward for securing
to “each considerable party or group of opinion” a representation
corresponding to its numerical strength among the voters. The best
known among these is the Hare Plan, which has been used in
several foreign countries and, during recent years, in a few American
cities.[48]
This system of proportional representation is The Hare plan
somewhat complicated but may be concisely explained.
described as follows: First, the names of all candidates are printed
alphabetically on the ballot and the voter indicates his choices by
marking the figure 1 after the name of his first choice, the figure 2
after the name of his second choice, and so on. Then, when the
polls are closed, the election officers compute the number of votes
needed to elect a candidate and this is called “the quota”. This they
do by dividing into the total number of votes cast the number of
places to be filled, plus one, and then adding one to the quotient.
For example, let us suppose that 10,000 votes have been cast and
that there are seven candidates to be elected. Ten thousand divided
by eight (seven plus one) is 1250 and any candidate who receives
1251 first-choice votes is declared elected. If such candidate,
however, has more votes than enough to fill his quota, the surplus
votes are distributed in accordance with the indicated second-
choices among candidates whose quotas have not been filled. If
enough candidates are not elected by this process, the candidate
with the smallest number of first choices is then dropped and his
votes are distributed in the same way. This process of elimination
and distribution goes on until enough candidates have filled their
quotas or until the successive eliminations have left no more than
enough to fill the vacant positions. This plan is not a model of
simplicity, of course, but it is not so difficult to understand as one
might at first glance imagine, nor in its actual workings does it
present any serious complications. What the voter has to do is
simple enough. In so far as there are any difficulties they arise in
connection with counting the ballots, not in marking them. The plan
is workable and the attainment of proportional representation in all
our legislative bodies would be a great gain.
Counting the Votes.—When the polls are Majorities and
closed the ballots are counted by the officials of pluralities.
the polling place in accordance with whatever plan is used. With
ordinary ballots the counting does not take very long; if preferential
ballots are used, or if a system of proportional representation is in
vogue, the counting takes a good deal longer. When a candidate
receives more than one-half of all the polled votes, he is declared to
have a majority; when he merely obtains more votes than the next
highest candidate he is said to have a plurality. In the United States,
at nearly all elections, a plurality is sufficient. When the counting is
finished the result is certified to the proper higher officials. A recount
can usually be had at the demand of any candidate, and recounts
often take place when the result is close.
Corrupt Practices at Elections.—All Types of corruption.
elections afford some opportunity for corrupt
practices and various safeguards are provided against their
occurrence. Personation is the offence of voting under a name which
is not your own. Voters who have died since the lists were compiled,
or who are absent, are sometimes impersonated by men who have
no right to vote at all. Vigilance on the part of the election officers
helps to prevent personation although the officials can hardly be
expected to know everyone who comes to the polls. Repeating is the
offence of voting twice at the same election. To do this a voter must
first, by fraudulent means, become enrolled as a voter in two or
more precincts or districts. Ballot-box stuffing is the practice of
putting in the box ballots which have no right to be there. With the
Australian ballot the practice is very infrequent. Ballot-switching is
the placing of marks on the ballots, surreptitiously, while the ballots
are being counted. A dishonest official, with a small piece of lead
under his fingernail, has sometimes been able to spoil or to “switch”
ballots by marking additional crosses on them during the process of
counting. Intimidation is the offence of influencing a voter’s action
by threats or wrongful pressure. Bribery, of course, is self-
explanatory. All these practices involve moral turpitude and are
forbidden under severe penalties. They have now become relatively
uncommon at American elections.[49]
Absent Voting.—It frequently happens, in the nature of things,
that many voters cannot conveniently be in their home districts on
election day. Soldiers and sailors, commercial travelers, railway
conductors, engineers and trainmen, fishermen, students in
universities are obvious examples. It has been estimated that in
Massachusetts the number of voters who are necessarily absent
from their homes on election day averages about thirty thousand.
Many others, in order to cast their ballots, are put to considerable
expense and inconvenience. Now it has seemed desirable, in many
of the states, to make some provision whereby those voters may
cast their ballots without being actually at the polls on election day.
The usual arrangement is that a voter who expects to be absent on
election day must apply, some time before the election date, to a
designated official for a ballot. This ballot is then marked by the
voter and sealed in an envelope. The envelope is attested before a
notary public and deposited with an election official who sees that it
is counted when other ballots are counted. In some states the blank
ballot is sent by mail to absent voters who request it, and after
being marked the ballot is returned by mail before the election day.
The chief objection to absent voting is that it gives an opportunity
for fraud, but in practice this has not proved to be a serious
objection.
 Compulsory Voting.—Compulsory voting does not exist
anywhere in the United States at the present time although it has
been frequently proposed. Voting has been made compulsory,
however, with legal penalties for failure to vote, in several foreign
countries, notably in Belgium, in Spain, and in New Zealand. The
usual procedure is to impose a fine upon every voter who, without
good excuse, stays away from the polls on election day, or, for
repeated absences, to strike his name off the voters’ list altogether.
Compulsory voting rests upon the argument The arguments for
that, in a democracy, the right to vote imposes a compulsory voting.
duty to vote. The citizen must serve on a jury in time of peace and
in the army during war whether he likes these forms of public
service or not. Why, then, should he be allowed to shirk his duty to
vote, a duty which must be performed if democratic government is
to survive? If one voter has the right to stay away from the polls,
every other voter has the same right. And if all followed this policy,
we could not maintain a “representative” form of government. But
there is another side to the question. The voter who goes to the
polls because he will be fined if he stays away will not cast his ballot
with much discrimination, intelligence, or patriotism. Would the
votes of such men be worth counting? Would Are they valid?
they contribute anything to the cause of good
government? Moreover, it has been demonstrated by foreign
experience that while you can compel a voter to go to the polls and
drop a ballot in the box you cannot compel him to mark his ballot
properly, for he marks it in secret. In one of the Swiss cities some
years ago it was found that the chief result of compulsory voting was
to induce many hundreds of reluctant voters to drop blank ballots in
the box. It can well be argued that voting is a duty, but it is a duty
which ought to be performed from motives of patriotism and not
from dread of the penalties. Most citizens do not require compulsion
and it is questionable whether forcing others to vote would, in the
long run, serve any useful purpose.
Voting by Machine.—In some cities of the The merits and
United States the experiment of permitting the defects of voting
voter to record his choice by means of a voting machines.
machine has been tried with varying degrees of success. A voting
machine is constructed upon much the same principles as a cash
register. The keys bear the names of the various candidates and the
voter merely steps behind a curtain where he presses one key after
another just as he would mark crosses on a printed ballot. The
mechanism is so arranged that a voter cannot press two keys which
register for the same office. The voting machine plan has some
distinct advantages in that it does away entirely with the trouble and
expense of printing ballots; it eliminates spoiled ballots, it precludes
all chance of tampering with the votes, and it ensures an accurate
count. On the other hand the machines are expensive both to install
and to maintain, particularly when several machines are needed for
each polling place. Moreover, like all other complicated mechanisms,
they get out of order, and when they do this on election day it
makes a bad mess of things. It is doubtful whether they will ever
supplant the printed ballot plan of voting.
Summary.—In order that any systems of popular voting shall be
permanently successful it is necessary that the ballot shall be simple,
intelligible, and secret. It must not be so long as to bewilder the
voter of average intelligence, and it ought to give the voter a
reasonable chance to “split” his ballot without running a serious risk
of spoiling it. A short ballot is a far more effective instrument of
democracy than a long ballot. Another essential is that the polling
place shall be adequately safeguarded against fraudulent practices of
any sort and that the counting of votes shall be conducted with
absolute honesty. Any corrupt practice in connection with elections is
a blow at the very heart of democracy. We hear a good deal, from
time to time, about unfairness, fraud, and corruption at elections in
the United States, particularly at elections in the larger cities. While
these things occur now and then they are much less frequent than
they used to be. American elections, taking them as a whole, are
conducted with as much fairness and honesty as the elections which
are held in any other country. Rival parties and candidates try hard
to win; they seize every opportunity to gain political advantages over
their opponents, and in so doing often travel very close to the line
which separates right from wrong; but on the whole they try to keep
within the letter of the election laws. Transgressions of the law may
bring some temporary success but in the long run they do not pay,
and the politicians know it.
General References
F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 130-191;
P. O. Ray, Political Parties and Practical Politics, pp. 109-164; 298-321;
W. B. Munro, The Government of American Cities, pp. 102-152;
C. L. Jones, Readings on Parties and Elections, pp. 212-250;
A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, pp. 143-164;
K. H. Porter, A History of Suffrage in the United States, pp. 20-46 and passim;
W. W. Willoughby and Lindsay Rogers, Introduction to the Problem of
Government, pp. 107-126 (Popular Government).
Group Problems
1. The direct primary: is it a success? Earlier methods of nomination. Evils
of the caucus and convention. Why the direct primary was established. The
different types of primary. Effect of the primary on the party system. Has it curbed
the power of the bosses? Cost of the primary system. Percentage of votes polled
at primaries. Has the primary secured better candidates? Can it be improved?
Probable effects of the pre-primary informal convention. If not the primary, what
then? References: C. E. Merriam, Primary Elections, pp. 117-132; 133-176; F. W.
Dallinger, Nominations for Elective Office in the United States, pp. 95-126; R. S.
Boots, The Direct Primary in New Jersey, passim; F. A. Cleveland, Organized
Democracy, pp. 228-242; A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States,
pp. 182-204; C. G. Haines and Bertha Haines, Principles and Problems of
Government, pp. 137-150; C. L. Jones, Readings on Parties and Elections, pp. 53-
79; P. O. Ray, Political Parties and Practical Politics, pp. 140-164; A. B. Hall,
Popular Government, pp. 45-97.
2. How can the ballot be improved? References: E. C. Evans, History of the
Australian Ballot in the United States, pp. 17-47; R. S. Childs, Short Ballot
Principles, passim; F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 262-272; C. A. Beard,
American Government and Politics, pp. 474-487; P. S. Reinsch, Readings on
American Federal Government, pp. 364-383; C. G. Haines and Bertha Haines,
Principles and Problems of Government, pp. 151-166; A. B. Hall, Popular
Government, pp. 242-269; Cyclopedia of American Government, Vol. I, pp. 100-
104.
3. Proportional representation in theory and in practice. References: J.
R. Commons, Proportional Representation, pp. 99-131; W. W. Willoughby and Lindsay
Rogers, Introduction to the Problem of Government, pp. 263-275 (also Appendix
iii); Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917-1918, Bulletins, No. 28
(Proportional Representation); American Proportional Representation League,
Pamphlets, especially Nos. 6 and 8. (The headquarters of the League are at
Haverford, Pa., and material relating to proportional representation can be had on
application.)
Short Studies
1. The gradual extension of the suffrage in the United States. F. A.
Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 130-150.
2. Who have the right to vote in European countries? F. A. Ogg, The
Governments of Europe (see index).
3. Qualifications for voting in the different states. World Almanac, 1918.
4. How American elections are conducted. A. N. Holcombe, State
Government in the United States, pp. 205-239.
5. How voters are enrolled. F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 220-
227.
6. The preferential ballot. Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917-
1918, Bulletins, No. 27 (Preferential Voting). (See also National Municipal Review,
Vol. I, pp. 386-400, July, 1912.)
7. The short ballot. R. S. Childs, Short Ballot Principles, especially pp. 21-30; P.
S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Government, pp. 372-383.
8. Compulsory voting. Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917-1918,
Bulletins, No. 24 (Compulsory Voting).
9. Corrupt practices at elections. C. L. Jones, Readings on Parties and
Elections, pp. 202-302.
10. Are elections as fairly conducted in the United States as in other
countries? Charles Seymour and Donald O. Frary, How the World Votes (see
index).
Questions
1. Is the right to vote a natural right or merely a privilege conferred by the
state?
2. Who have the right to vote at elections in your state? Who are excluded? In
order to vote, how long must one reside in your state? Your county? Your precinct?
3. Who enrolls voters in your community? When and where do they enroll
voters? What evidence must you supply in order to be enrolled?
4. Make a diagram of a polling place showing its interior arrangement, the
booths in which voters mark their ballots, the location of the ballot box, etc.
5. What are the different forms of primary and which form do you think is the
best (a) for state nominations; (b) for local nominations?
6. What effects would the use of the short ballot have upon (a) the efficiency of
government; (b) popular interest at elections; (c) the quality of the officials
chosen?
 7. Explain the difference between preferential voting, proportional
representation, limited voting, and cumulative voting.
8. Explain the difference between corrupt and illegal practices at elections. Make
a list of each.
9. What are some of the reasons why so many voters stay away from the polls
on election day? Are the following excuses valid: “I do not approve of either
political party”; “My vote doesn’t count for anything”; “I am too busy”; “I am not
interested in politics”; “It is a rainy day and I might catch cold”; “I have an
engagement to play golf”; “The polling place is too far away”; “I do not think any
of the candidates worth voting for”?
10. What are some of the practical objections to making voting compulsory?
Topics for Debate
1. There should be an educational test for voting.
2. The failure to vote, in the absence of a valid excuse, should be punished by
some appropriate penalty.
3. There should be a limit on the amount of money that may be legally spent by
candidates in election campaigns.

GOOD ADMINISTRATION

By Elihu Vedder
From a mural decoration in the Library of Congress.
Good Administration, with benign countenance, sits
upon her throne, a perfect arch above her head. As
the strength of an arch depends upon all its parts
equally, so the maintenance of a strong and efficient
administration depends upon the co-operation of all
elements among the people. In her right hand Good
Administration holds evenly the scales of justice; her
left hand rests upon a quartered shield to indicate the
fair balance of all parties and classes. On her lap is the
book of the law. At her feet, on either side, is an urn.
Into one of these urns a maiden is winnowing wheat
drawn from the waving fields in the background. The
people also, in choosing their public officials, should
winnow well. Into the other urn an eager youth, with
 books of knowledge under his left arm, is casting his
ballot.
Mr. Vedder has also executed for the Library of
Congress a companion figure portraying Corrupt
Administration. She holds the scales, unevenly
balanced, in her left hand. A seeker of special favors is
placing a bag of gold in the scales; he has seized the
book of the law and upset the ballot urn.

GOOD ADMINISTRATION. By Elihu Vedder

From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston.

Reproduced by permission.
 CHAPTER VIII
POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRACTICAL POLITICS

The purpose of this chapter is to describe how political parties are

organized, what they do, and how they do it.

Why Political Parties are Formed.— Parties are natural

Whenever people are in control of their groups.
government, political parties are certain to be formed. No popular
government has long continued anywhere in the world without
political parties. The reason for this is that whenever any group of
people find that they have the same opinions or the same interests
they desire to act together. If people are interested in music they
organize an orchestra or a choral society and arrange concerts. If
men are interested in trade, they organize themselves into a board
of trade to promote their mutual interests. Workmen associate
themselves together in labor unions; boys who are interested in
athletics organize clubs; men who have been in the military and
naval service associate themselves together in the American Legion,
and so it goes. People who have the same opinions, desires, ideas,
and interests tend to group themselves together, which is a perfectly
natural thing for them to do.
Now large numbers of men and women have identical political
opinions (or think they have) and this community of interest draws
them together into groups. Such groups we call political parties. The
Republican party is made up of men and women who believe in
certain political principles which are set forth in the party platform;
the Democratic party is made up of those who hold a different set of
opinions. Whenever a large body of people wish the government to