State Parties and National Politics

election of a new president and the transfer of responsibility of national political leadership from one party to the other, with an ensuing sense of frustration among many responsible for the change, suggest a consideration of how far these inevitable disappointments are inherent in our political structure. This consideration should center on a fact which we try to conceal in the years of Presidential campaigns, that rivalries of political leaders in the United States for public office are organized almost entirely with the state as the unit of operation. Nevertheless, the national government has consistently from its beginning expanded its functions and proliferated machinery in an effort to fulfill its increasing responsibilities. Members of Congress have authorized the multiplication of federal agencies and have appropriated money for their support, while lamenting the expanding power of the executive. Representatives of the states have co-operated in enlarging the functions of the national government, while complaining that the rights of the states are infringed. But the need to preserve coherence in a society in which people depend increasingly upon each other and to mobilize the strength of the country in times of national emergency or international tension seems likely to continue to move our political leaders to be thus inconsistent in their speech and action. Framers of the Constitution of the United States could look