Berns, Walter F., Jr.

English

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Louisiana Law ReviewVolume 14 | Number 3April 1954PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN THE SOUTH: ASTUDY IN UNIPARTY POLITICS, by Cortez A.M. Ewing. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman,1953. Pp. xii, 112. $2.75.Walter F. Berns Jr.This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact kreed25@lsu.edu.Repository CitationWalter F. Berns Jr., PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN THE SOUTH: A STUDY IN UNIPARTY POLITICS, by Cortez A. M. Ewing. Universityof Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1953. Pp. xii, 112. $2.75., 14 La. L. Rev. (1954)Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol14/iss3/28BOOK REVIEWSand final lecture in which he makes proposals for the achieve-ment of the end argued for in the lecture as a whole, namely,the strengthening of the relative position of the states in thefederal system in the next quarter century. These are the author'sprescriptions in summary: "The states might recover some func-tions, once held by them, that have gone to Washington; theymight recover somewhat greater freedom of action in joint pro-grams; they might cooperate among themselves more effectively,using the interstate compact as a means of agreement and action;and they might use their own powers of government more freelyto meet the needs of their citizens."Finally, it is clear that Mr. White has no simple, easy panaceafor the restoration of a "proper balance" between the states andthe federal government. Much will depend on what the statesthemselves do in meeting their responsibilities to their citizens.Moreover, not all federal centralization is bad, but it. will bevastly better if it is rationally directed toward a desired end, asWhite believes it can be. To the extent that federal centralizationrepresents an effort to adjust to new conditions demanding uni-formity of treatment it is surely not to be condemned. To theextent, however, that it represents a disposition on the part ofthe states to abdicate their natural and normal responsibilities,it is to be deplored, for here it strikes at the vitals of the demo-cratic process.The book deserves a wide reading. One is even tempted tosuggest that the members of the National Commission on Inter-governmental Relations would find in it many helpful leads.Geo. W. Spicer*PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN THE SOUTH: A STUDY IN UNIPARTY POLITICS,by Cortez A. M. Ewing. University of Oklahoma Press,Norman, 1953. Pp. xii, 112. $2.75.Since the publication of the December, 1952, issue of theAmerican Political Science Review, and particularly an articlein that issue entitled "Research in Political Behavior," it has beenthe occasional whim of this reviewer to write an article dealingwith the insights provided by quantitative research in politics.The particular stimulus was provided by the straight-faced* Professor of Political Science, University of Virginia.19541LOUISIANA LAW REVIEWpresentation in this article of the following proposition as aresearchable hypothesis: "Women adjust to their husbands'political orientation to the degree that there is strong cohesionand male dominance."' It was the intention of the reviewer todiscuss the subject of quantitative research under two headings:(1) What every woman knows, and (2) So what? An example ofthe insights appropriate to the first category may be found inthe June, 1953, issue of the same periodical, in an article entitled"Political Issues and the Vote: November, 1952."2 As a result ofintensive data collection and analysis by trained researchers, theSurvey Research Center of the University of Michigan was ableto provide an eager public with this conclusion:"It is also clear that 'regular' party followers were as agroup more partisan in their views on these issues than werepeople who do not vote regularly or who switch from oneparty to the other. The irregular voters as a group held atti-tude positions midway between the attitudes of regularDemocrats and Republicans."8If every woman does not know this, she may now be authori-tatively apprised of it. Professor Ewing's book, the subject ofthis review, must be considered under the second heading.The author's intention "is to examine the primary systemsof the South and to determine, if possible, whether the intra-party struggle produces results that are not at variance with thedemands of democratic procedure." (p. 7) To answer this ques-tion he spent six years collecting data dealing with primary elec-tions in the South, which he presents in seven chapters and thirty-six tables. In Chapter Four, for example, entitled "Effect ofIncumbency on Primary Elections," he sets out to measure theextent to which potential candidates are deterred from enteringa primary by the filing of the incumbent; he finds by analyzinghis data that the effect varies according to several factors. Nowwhat does one do with this information? What have we learnedby being told that "an average of seven candidates would entera non-incumbent judicial race, whereas only five candidateswould enter the same race if an incumbent were running"?(p. 59) And what is the relation of this information (informa-tion surely available before the publication of this book) to the1. Eldersveld, Heard, Huntington, Janowitz, Leiserson, McKean & Tru-man, Research in Political Behavior, 46 AM. POL. ScI. REV. 1003, 1019 (1952).2. Campbell, Gurin & Miller, Political Issues and the Vote: November,1952, 47 AM. POL. Sm. REv. 359 (1953).3. Id. at 377.VOL. XIVBOOK REVIEWSauthor's intention? In the last chapter he marks the fulfillment ofhis intention by noting that fewer voters participate in primariesin the South than in other sections of the country and that "thesefigures refute better than rhetoric the Southern apologists whomaintain that the South is as democratic as other sections andthat its democratic participation comes in the primaries ratherthan in the general election." (p. 103) If the extent to which apolitical system is democratic is determined by the number ofpeople who bother to participate in elections, Professor Ewingcould have fulfilled his intention on one page with one simpletable and one line of text. In view of this, the thousands of statis-tics presented seem adventitious to the intention, or the intentionis adventitiously imposed on the statistics. If it is important toknow how many candidates enter Democratic primary contestsfor state auditor, or which office attracts the most candidatesthroughout the South, it would be more convenient to be in-formed by a handbook of election statistics, or an election al-manac, and be spared a commentary which does nothing to illu-minate the statistics.On the last two pages Professor Ewing deals with questionsof interest to anyone concerned with southern politics, and here,venturing opinions as to the future, he has been proved wrongby subsequent events. But this failure to predict correctly, itshould be pointed out, in no way invalidates the conclusionsreached by his study, since the prediction has nothing to do withthe study.Walter F. Berns, Jr.*DEmOKRATIE UND RECHTSSTAAT, FESTGABE ZUM 60. Geburtstag vonZaccaria Giacometti. Polygraphischer Verlag, Zfirich, 1953.Pp. 262.Corresponding to the lifelong interest of Professor Giacometti,the accent of the Festgabe centers around the relation betweenthe political process and the Rechtsstaat concept. A number ofcontributions are on specific problems of Swiss law and legalhistory by Maurice Batelli, Andr6 Grisel, Jakob Wackernageland one by Hans Peters on German post-war constitutional devel-opments. The other articles are more or less focused on the* Assistant Professor of Government, Louisiana State University.1954]

PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN THE SOUTH: A STUDY IN UNIPARTY POLITICS, by Cortez A. M. Ewing. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1953. Pp. xii, 112. $2.75.

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PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN THE SOUTH: A STUDY IN UNIPARTY POLITICS, by Cortez A. M. Ewing. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1953. Pp. xii, 112. $2.75.

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