ABSTRACT
Given the extent to which public life in modern states is being organised on a more complicated basis and the extent to which the democratisation of the system of government is increasing, it is becoming more and more difficult for political ideas to be put forward otherwise than in the framework of a party organisation. This is undoubtedly closer to the truth in the United States than it is in any other political commonwealth. Till about 1824, the masses of voters were guided by legislatures. These formed committees — the Congressional or Legislative Caucus — by whom the candidates recommended to the people for election were nominated. When the democratic tidal wave arrived at the beginning of the 1820s, the function of giving guidance to the masses of voters was displaced from a high to a low level. In addition, it is a fact that the political machine has for years rested in the hands of the old-established parties.
