Amateurs and Peofessionals: A Study of Delegates to the 1968 Democratic National Convention

Abstract

Several years ago James Q. Wilson studied the members of the three amateur Democratic clubs in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. He intended his study, by his own admission, to be interesting rather than theoretical, but we have found its theoretical portions to be intriguing. The amateur politicians studies by Wilson primarily concentrated their energies in local politics, although their ambitions extended far beyond local campaigns and issues. Indeed, they expressed a clear desire to alter fundamentally the character of the American party system and, accordingly, all governing institutions.Wilson's task of identifying and characterizing the political motives and tactics of amateur Democrats was facilitated by the existence of political clubs. He had only to identify the clubs he wished to study and survey their members. Future researchers were left the responsibility of identifying similar political motives and tactics in less well-defined groups. We attempted to do this for a sample of delegates to the Democratic National Convention in 1968, and, following Wilson's criteria, we were successful in identifying a substantial proportion of amateur Democrats.The amateur Democrat described by Wilson was not set apart from the more conventional party activitsts by his liberalism, his age, education or class. He was not a dilettante or an inept practitioner of politics, nor did he regard politics as an avocation or hobby. Rather the amateur found politics intrinsically interesting because it expressed a conception of the public interest. The political world was perceived in terms of policies and principles which were consistent with the amateur's theory of deomocracy.

Necessary Asymmetry or Undemocratic Imbalance? Professionalisation in the Recruitment and Career of Belgian Local Councillors

“…The latter stands for 'the process by which social status gives way to political status as the basic criterion for legislative recruitment' (Eliassen and Pedersen 1978, p. 291). Particularly, political parties come to structure recruitment by training and rewarding loyal party activists (Soule and Clarke 1970, Eliassen and Pedersen 1978. The second, and probably most familiar, dimension of professionalisation occurs in the aftermath of recruitment during the actual political career.…”

“…Different motives may spur political activism, ranging from conscription and ideology to party service and career planning (Aars and Offerdal 1998, Fox and Lawless 2005, Copus 2008). Hence motivation is clearly linked to the process of professionalisation (Black 1970, Soule andClarke 1970). The upbringing in a political family may activate citizens as well (Prewitt 1970, Braud 1996.…”

Party Factions in Congress

“…On the domestic front, this faction was deeply concerned about the behavior of office holders, minority rights, progressive cultural values, environmentalism, and consumer protection. They worked through a variety of associations, strategically placed bureaucrats, and the federal courts to dominate the Democratic Party (Berry 1999(Berry , 1977Ceaser 1979;Fraser and Gerstle 1989;Hale 1992;Harris and Milkis 1996;Milkis 1999;Shafer 1983Shafer , 2004Soule and Clark 1970;Wilson 1995 (Busch 2005;Connelly and Pitney 1994;Gould 2003;Himmelstein 1990;Koopman 1996;McGirr 2001;Nash 1976;Perlstein 2001;Rae 1998;Reinhard 1983). …”

Gender Differences in Campaign Materials and Politicians’ Professional Orientation: The Case of a Hong Kong Election

“…Therefore, professional politicians tended to be more "centrist" in their political beliefs (Fishel 1971). On the contrary, political amateurs saw politics as intrinsically interesting, supported programmatic parties, and tended to be "purists" who would stick to their beliefs even in the face of electoral defeats (Hitlin and Jackson III 1977;Roback 1975;Soule and Clark 1970).…”