Organizing for Reform
The Anti-Saloon League and Innovation in Politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2732604 |
|---|---|
| Authors | K Austin Kerr (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1980 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 37 |
| Publication date | 1980-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0678 • E-ISSN: 1080-6490 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2712495 |
| OpenAlex | W2327942092 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
rediscovered the importance of single-issue pressure groups, and some have expressed alarm over the splintering of the body politic that their power entails. The history of the American political system, however, informs us that the organizations that give rise to this concern are not new phenomena. Ever since the publication in 1928 of Peter Odegard's Pressure Politics, scholars have realized that a new kind of political institution, represented by the Anti-Saloon League of America, had appeared and changed the nature of popular political action amidst the complexities of American democracy. This new institution stood apart from the political parties. It mobilized a national constituency of thousands of citizens, uniting them in a common concern while disregarding their differences on other matters; and it achieved a specific, if controversial, political goal.' Special interest politics, of course, is almost as old as the legislative process in America. But prior to the rise of the Anti-Saloon League, special interest activities were usually endeavors of small elite business groups lobbying to influence economic policy, or democratically organized movements attacking widely perceived social ills. The popular movements did not hesitate to form political parties of their own. The League was different; it was the first modern pressure group. Like earlier movements, the League successfully organized a large national constituency of citizens to achieve a reform, but unlike its predecessors, it employed bureaucratic methods to maintain its single issue focus. During
League · Physics · Political science · Politics · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Law · Public Administration
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,15 |
| Citation span | 1993 - 2026 (34) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |