is followed throughout until all the successful candidates are ascertained. On a short ballot this method is fairly simple for the voter and not hard for the counter, but naturally would prove impossible for such lengthy ballots, as are commonly used in the United States.

II. The Belgian System.-The d'Hondt, or Belgian, system requires that each party arrange its candidates on the ballot in the order of importance, for the reason that the successful candidates will be selected from the party lists in the order of arrangement. The voter then merely indicates his choice of parties by marking the square at the head of the column, although provision is made for "splitting the ticket" if desired. In the count a quotient is obtained by a simple mathematical operation and by a series of easy divisions the results are declared speedily and assignments made to the respective parties.) This system is simple, speedy in operation, and will likely win favor rapidly. The German Republic adopted the system for its first national election (1919) and found it to work admirably, even though a very heavy vote was cast through adult suffrage. The French system of 1919 follows in the main the Belgian plan but a somewhat different mathematical operation is performed in arriving at the result.11

In both these systems the general ticket, of course, must be used as against the single-member district and this also has its distinct advantages. Great Britain is planning experiments in the direction of a general ticket by arranging that boroughs having the right to three or more members in the House of Commons shall elect by

"Articles descriptive of the German and French systems may be found in the American Political Science Review, August, 1919, pp. 361-378 (Germany), and February, 1920, pp. 117-123 (France).

general ticket in districts of from three to five members and by a later bill these will probably be elected by some form of proportional representation.

It seems obvious that in the near future, some of the American commonwealths will try out systems of general tickets and proportional representation and presumably will find them feasible as other countries have, in which case other commonwealths will speedily imitate the successful experiments. In this fashion there should slowly creep into American city councils, state legislatures, and administrative boards a representation of minorities as well as of the majority, and this will have a distinctly democratic effect on the political-party system.

Party Issues.-The issues that separate political parties are generally, though not always, economic. The state is so important a factor in conserving and strengthening economic interests that these eagerly seek to have a dominant voice in governmental policy. Parties as a rule tend to identify themselves with one or several kindred interests so as to secure the support of those engaged in such economic occupations. There will regularly be representation of such interests, for example, as those of the landed, or farming, interests, or commerce, manufacturing, mining, and fishing; or there may be a representation of economic classes, such as labor parties with a platform of labor reforms, or an agrarian movement such as the former Populist party of the United States or the Non-Partisan League of the present; or, again, some economic policy that will affect numerous classes may be under discussion, as socialism or the tariff or questions of taxation or of the regulation of corporations and trusts. Occasionally there may be special issues of temporary importance involving questions of

religion, morality, education, or some particular phase of international policy such as the question of the League of Nations in the campaign of 1920. But these issues as a rule are not lasting nor are they broad enough to form the basis for a permanent national organization.

Again, entirely independent of the particular issues at stake, a party may gain strength by posing as a representative of conservatism, favoring a policy averse to change, and thus securing the support of those who prefer known ills to possible dangers. On the other hand, a radical aggressive party may win support by advocacy of fundamental changes, on the ground that such are in the line of progress. As a rule, it will be found that the issues involved in an election turn either on the maintenance of the status quo, or on an economic question involving the clash of differing interests.

CHAPTER XXI

POLICIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF GOVERNMENT

Polity and Policy.-The preceding chapters have been devoted primarily to the study of the development and differentiation of government and the relationship between it and the state with its sovereignty. The organization in which the various departments of govern ment are combined into a systematic whole is sometimes called the polity of the state, a Greek word (Toλteia) which really includes also the notion of policy, implying a study of the principles underlying governmental action, having reference to some well defined aim or plan. If, therefore, a person understands the polity and policy of his State, he understands his government, its activities, its ideals, and standards of action. Fully to understand these he should know the historical development of the political principles underlying national history and the relation of these to the larger world principles of political activity, and their relation to the principles of social organization as described in sociology.

The power of sovereignty, of course, is the source from which governmental agencies derive their vigor, enabling them thereby to formulate policies, both domestic and international, which when formulated are then put into action through the proper departments of government. A nation's policies may include many petty policies that come and go with changing currents of pub

lic opinion, but underneath these are bedrock policies of a permanent sort, traceable with occasional variations or aberrations through generations or even centuries of national history.

Domestic and Foreign Policies.-Such policies are fundamental because they vitally concern the life and prosperity of the nation. Domestic policies aim to safeguard citizens in their lives and property and to furnish to them enlarged opportunities for the pursuit of happiness. Foreign policies aim to safeguard the life and property of the nation as a whole and to furnish opportunities for national growth and national welfare. The world may be considered from one point of view as made up of states suspicious and hostile one to the other. Admitting that they should be fraternal in their relations and hoping that in time they may become so, it is safer to assume an attitude of distrust and to be on guard against attacks from powerful rivals. Every state having potential enemies must, therefore, formulate policies aiming to safeguard national existence and to secure opportunities for growth in population and national wealth.

Properly such policies should conform to the best national ideals and be in harmony with world standards of ethical conduct. Unfortunately, however, the principles embodied in Machiavelli's teachings are favored by nations desirous of self-aggrandizement at the expense of their neighbors, so that too often such states use lower moral codes in dealing with other states than they employ in their domestic policies. Consequently the policies of well meaning states in order to be effective have to include a policy of preparedness for offensive or defensive warfare, on land or sea, so as to impress on