DYNAMIC AMERICANISM
page: [][View Page []] page: [][View Page []]DYNAMIC AMERICANISM
ByARNOLD BENNETT HALL
Department of Political Science, University of WisconsinINDIANAPOLIS
THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT 1920
THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
Printed in the United States of America
page: [][View Page []]TO THE MEMORY OF
THEODOSIA PARKS HALL
PREFACE
The author believes that Americanism implies an adequate understanding of the ideals and aspirations of American democracy, a profound conviction as to their fundamental worth, and, above all, a deep sense of personal accountability for their development and defense. The great war afforded a dramatic demonstration of the utility and power of organized patriotic sentiment. For it was under its driving impulse that the people of America gloriously accepted the burdens and sacrifice of war.
It is significant, however, that we do not always find the same degree of chivalry, devotion and self-sacrifice evidenced in our domestic conflicts. The reason is that our patriotic education has been too much restricted to the exploits of the battle-field and the achievement of martial glory. But the creation of patriotic sentiment need not be so confined. The instinctive and emotional life of the nation can be just as effectively mobilized around the tragic problems of domestic controversy and translated into constructive acts of social and political achievement, if we only will. An analysis of the vital problems of domestic life, in terms of the dramatic human interests that are at stake, will create a profound emotional response, which can be molded into a patriotic sentiment as dynamic in peace as it has been powerful in war.
The purpose of the present volume has been to suggest ways and means by which the study and observation of American government, life and politics, whether in the local page: [][View Page []]community or the nation's capital, may be made the basis for the development of such a sentiment of dynamic Americanism. This involves less emphasis upon political forms and more attention to the needs and functions of government and the dynamic forces of human nature that function through it. If the legal skeleton of civics is thus clothed with the flesh and blood of human interest, it loses the monotonous drone of chronological detail and takes on the gripping interest of the drama.
The critical reader may complain of the "damnable reiteration" and the use of superfluous illustrations. There is no justification for the former other than the author's zeal to carry conviction to the reader. In the abundant use of illustrative material, the writer has sought to practise what he preached, and to make his theories vivid by expressing them in terms of modern life. It is to be hoped that this material will be found of special value and significance to many readers.
In the bibliography at the end of each chapter are found only those references which would seem to be most useful in connection with the topics therein treated. Throughout the preparation of the work and particularly in selecting the bibliography, the author has received the generous and valuable assistance of his wife.
ARNOLD BENNETT HALL.
page: [][View Page []]CONTENTS
- CHAPTER PAGE
- INTRODUCTION—THE NEED FOR CONSTRUCTIVE PATRIOTISM 1
- HOW MAY CONSTRUCTIVE PATRIOTISM BE DEVELOPED 20
- THE INTELLECTUAL BASIS FOR CONSTRUCTIVE PATRIOTISM 44
- THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNMENT 68
- THE FUNCTIONAL APPROACH 97
- THE STORY OF THE COMMUNITY 131
- RURAL LIFE AND GOVERNMENT 161
- CITY LIFE AND GOVERNMENT 192
- FUNCTIONS AND GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE 220
- FEDERAL FUNCTIONS AND GOVERNMENT 247
- FUNCTIONS AND ORGANIZATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES 280
- THE BULWARK OF DEMOCRACY 312
DYNAMIC AMERICANISM
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