=Party Divisions Tend to Become Permanent.=—Parties are originally formed to promote a particular policy, but when they have gained control of the government and have put their program into practice they do not go out of existence. They continue, and people remain members of the party, largely from force of habit. Each party takes up new ideas, gains some new members and loses some old ones. The mill keeps on turning although new forms of grist are brought to be ground and new workmen guide the wheels. Men and women who reach voting age join one or another of the parties, sometimes because they are influenced by its principles, more often because their parents have belonged to that party. Thus it happens that over long periods of time a party may remain strong among the people in one section of the country and weak in another. The reason is not that the party’s policy at the moment happens to be popular in one area and unpopular in the other. Habit influences people in politics as in everything else. When a man has voted several times with one political party he is not likely to desert it even though the party’s program changes. Not only that but his sons and daughters will probably join the same political party. Pennsylvania has gone Republican at every national election for more than sixty years although a wholly new set of voters has grown up; Texas on the other hand has never failed to support the Democratic ticket for just as long a period. The whole of the “Solid South”, in fact, goes Democratic with unfailing regularity, and has done so ever since the Reconstruction. A political party thus retains a strong hold upon large bodies of voters, old and new, even though it may change its policies from time to time. [Sidenote: The active work of parties.] =The Functions of Political Parties.=—Could we get along without parties? Perhaps we could, but American government would have to be carried on very differently if parties did not exist. If you watch an election campaign, you will notice that several things happen in the course of it. First, there is a great deal of public discussion about candidates. Then, some time before the election, candidates are nominated. Platforms are drawn up stating the things which each candidate favors. The candidates, together with other speakers, go out and make addresses; pamphlets are distributed broadcast giving reasons why people should vote for one candidate or the other; meetings and rallies are held in halls and on the street corners; the newspapers print the arguments on the respective sides; the people are worked up to a white heat of enthusiasm; and finally, on the day of election, the issue is decided.