strengthen, and in some cases to create, "society." But government that enters our lives so pervasively can easily be despotic
without new kinds of restraint. Limited government in 1976 depends less on self-regulated mechanisms and more on citizen-
regulated politics. Political parties have done more than express
the needs and feelings of citizens. They have educated them in
the norms and values of democratic politics. With some justice, George Washington Plunkitt asserted that "the parties built this
great country."20 And the ideal of civic education through revitalized parties is certainly attractive, only eight years from 1984.
Notes
1. V. O. Key Jr., "The Future of the Democratic Party," Virginia
Quarterly 28 ( 1952): 161.
2. Kevin Phillips, The Emerging Republican Majority ( New York: Arlington, 1969).
3. Key, "Future of the Democratic Party,"173; see also Key Public Opinion and American Democracy ( New York: Knopf, 1961).
4.For example, see J. A. C. Grant, "The Gild Returns to America," Journal of Politics 4 ( 1942): 303-36, 458-77; John Kenneth Galbraith, American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power ( Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1952); Grant McConnell, Private Power and American Democracy ( New York: Knopf, 1966); and Theodore Lowi, The
End of Liberalism ( New York: Norton, 1969).
5. Samuel Lubell, The Future of American Politics ( New York: Harper, 1952); see also Lubell The Revolt of the Moderates ( New
York: Harper, 1956); and The Hidden Crisis in American Politics ( New
York: Norton, 1970).
6. Richard Centers, "Children of the New Deal: Social Stratification and Adolescent Attitudes," International Journal of Opinion and Attitude Research 4 ( 1950): 315-35.
7. Herbert McClosky et al., "Issue Conflict and Consensus among
Party Leaders and Followers," American Political Science Review 54
( 1960): 406-27, describes the continuing Republican problem.
8.For the concept of the "social issue," see
Richard Scammon and Ben Wattenberg, The Real Majority ( New York: Coward McCann, 1970).
-34-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: The Politics of Disappointment:American Elections, 1976-94.
Contributors: Wilson Carey McWilliams - Author.
Publisher: Chatham House Publishers.
Place of publication: Chatham, NJ.
Publication year: 1995.
Page number: 34.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may
not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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