Southwest High School - Roundup Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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THE GROWTH OF DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES By BUELL PEARsoN Only to those entirely lacking in historical perspective does it seem that there has been no growth of democracy in the United States. To be sure, such progress is often almost imperceptible: but viewed as a whole, our history shows definite evidences of remarkable advance. If democracy embodies the three great principles of popular sovereignty, equality, and liberty, its develop- ment can be measured by the forward strides that have been taken toward the realization of these objectives. Popular sovereignty implies that fundamental authority is vested in the people. Progress here can be shown most clearly in the increasing number of those who have the privilege of the ballot and the right to hold public oflice. In the early years of our history under the Constitution, suffrage was very restricted, as it had been in the colonial period and in England, and only those who qualifled in property, race, and sex were given the vote. Gradually these various restrictions were done away with. First the property restriction was withdrawn. Then the fifteenth amendment was ratified in 1870 granting suffrage regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. ln 1920 the long sought for goal of woman suffrage was attained. By ratifica- tion of the nineteenth amendment the electorate was doubled and today nearly 50W of our people are eligible to vote-an amazing advance toward the goal of universal adult suffrage. In addition to the growing electorate as an evidence of more complete popular sovereignty, there must be added the reforms embodied in the Seven- teenth and Twentieth Amendments. By the former, adopted in l9l3, United States Senators are elected by popular vote instead of by state legislatures as formerly. By the latter, adopted in 1933, there came the abolition of the Lame-Duck Congress, a system under which those defeated for re-election in November took their seats in Congress the following month and served as representatives until March 4-th of the following year, while those actually elected by the people waited thirteen months before assuming their tasks in Congress. Under the present system, those elected in November take office in January, just two months later. A future step in reform must be the abolition of the Electoral College system for electing the president and vice-president, a system by which candidates have often been elected with a minority of the popular vote. Not only in the field of national government but also in the realm of state and local affairs, new techniques have beenfdeveloped to guarantee further control by the people. The secret caucus, or boss-controlled system of nomi- nating candidates, has given way to the convention, and more recently to the direct primary election, in which all members of the party participate in the selection of their candidates in the Hnal election. There have come, too, the initiative and referendum, and the recall of public officials. By the initiative and referendum, in those states which have Fifteen

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f- ...., LIBE US O IGI EL D WIi,TI1If DEODLE Ol' THE UNITED STATES IH ODDID T0 IOIIVIA NODE PEIIITCT UHIOH ESTABIISII JUS' TICI VIESTIC F I AMERICA GIVES THANKS By JOCILLE MCINTYRE For rolling plains of harvest fair. For opportunities we share, For laws that safe our rights declare Give we our thanks! For sacred homes in times oppressed. For hopes within our hearts caressed, For liberty and freedom blessed, Give we our thanks!

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adopted it, qualified voters may petition their state legislature or city council to refer a law to the people for their approval before it goes into effect. By the recall a certain percentage of the voters may demand a special election to determine Whether an elected officer shall be removed from office before the expiration of his term. The recall has been aptly termed.a sort of popular impeachment. In city government the coming of the Commission and City Manager plans have been notable advances. In both systems authority is concentrated in a few responsible heads which makes for much greater efficiency and much less corruption. In the light of these many evidences, who can say that no progress has been made toward the realization of the popular sovereignty? Even more remarkable than popular sovereignty in America is the spirit of equality. We have an equality of races and economic classes approached in few other places on the earth. The colonists were determined that no class distinction should exist here. Article One of the Constitution reads that no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States. And thus a start was made. Perhaps the greatest influence toward the development of equality was th-at of the frontier, where birth counted for little, and a man was judged by what he could do. Even so, legal equality was slow in coming for the negro and for the Indian, our two largest racial minorities. As late as 1857 Chief Justice Taney of the United States Supreme Court said in the famous Dred Scott decision that negroes were so far inferior that they have no rights which the white man is bound to respect. Not until 1865 did the Thirteenth Amendment abolish human slavery, and not until 1868 did the Fourteenth Amendment grant citizenship equally to the negro. The rise of the negroes to positions of importance in society has been very slow, but the climb from barbarism to civilization in two centuries is a considerable achievement. The American Indian we had always considered, rather ironically, a foreigner -a foreigner to be conquered and pushed back to make room for the westward expansion of our people. Now that he is completely conquered we force him into the close confines of reservations. The final chapter was not written until 1924 when by law of Congress the Indian was finally granted citizenship. When we think of economic groups, we generally consider the farmer and the industrial worker or laborer, who are often called the backbone of the nation. There was little equality among the economic classes during colonial times and during the first 50 or 60 years of our history under the Constitution. However, with the advent of big business after the Civil War labor began to organize on a national scale. In recent years the farmers have gained in strength by forming co-operatives. Both groups have entered the political field, neither as yet having any great success. A word must be added concerning the remarkable evolution of woman's status from that of household drudge to almost complete political, economic, and social equality. Not only are women found today in virtually every trade and profession, but also in such high offices as Mayor, Governor, United States Representative, Judge in National Courts, Cabinet Member, and United States S ixreen