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the general tendency to stereotype political problems and thus covcr
up the real issues at stake in a campaign. The rank-and-file voter
tends to think in terms of voting for or against “states’ rights,” for
or against corruption in government, for or against integration, for
or against prosperity at home and peace abroad, or for or against
militarism. He is encouraged to think in terms of pat slogans and
cliches which obscure the basic differences in policy between the
opposing parties. Some corruption—five-per-centers or mink coats
or men who profit from various kinds of deals—is discovered in one
administration, and a campaign is built around the “mess in Wash
ington” under the Democrats or under the Republicans as the case
may be. The impression is given that a change in the administration
will bring an end to corruption; and little is said about the more basic
matters of foreign policy, tariffs, the relation of private economic
groups to government, labor policies, social security, income tax
policy, and farm policy. This is not to say that tax scandals and in
fluence peddling should be condoned in the least. There is no sub
stitute for personal integrity; but individual corruption should not be
allowed to obscure the organized injustice and the organized cor
ruption involved in high tariffs, in granting of special concessions to
favored groups in tax revisions, in legislation relating to private
utilities, or in immigration policies.
Similarly, the voter is frequently led to choose between parties and
candidates on the basis of their being for or against a reduction of
taxes or for or against big government. The voter isn’t told, nor does
he bother to inquire, how the candidate can perform all of the things
he has promised to do and still reduce taxes; but the credulous voter
hopefully casts his ballot for the man who promises the biggest give
away for home consumption. Or one votes against big government
and for Jeffersonian democracy without asking whether these are live
options in our time. Big government, it seems clear, is here to stay.
The only real question is, how responsible can it be made to be?
THEY EMPHASIZE PERSONALITIES AND SINGLE ISSUES.
A closely
related reason why Protestants generally fail to fulfill their political
obligations lies in their tendency to decide political matters on the
basis of personalities and single issues. Sometimes it is a matter of
the candidate’s personal life—the fact that he has or has not been
divorced, his religious faith (Is he a Jew or a Roman Catholic?), or
his habits with regard to drink or tobacco—that shoves all other con
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Biblical Faith and Social Ethics