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Citation: Correll, Willett Ramson. Ethics of political parties. Senior thesis, Kansas State Agricultural College, 1898. ; Morse Department of Special Collections ; Introduction: "Any section of men who nominate candidates of their own for presidency and vice-presidency of the United States, constitutes what is known as a political party". There have been many political parties since the first was organized. There has been a constant struggle between them for supremacy. Part of the time one is in the lead, and the rest of the time is occupied by others. There have always been at least two great political parties in this country, and this fact perhaps accounts for the continuous rapid growth of this nation as compared with some others. History shows that the secret of the many political revolutions in France and the Spanish-American republics, have been caused by the want of two great political parties to check each other and Champion the rights of the people. Wherever republics have fallen, the fall has been the result of struggle between minority parties. Without political parties, this nation would be helpless in the choice of a president who would command the respect of the nation, and could have no legislation that would satisfy the ants of the people; but while these parties seem essential to progress, and we as well as others, have progressed by them, do we conclude from this that while our people as a result of progressive evaluation, have risen from the lower depths of ignorance to a higher, and still higher standard of knowledge and morality, until they have reached the present high standard, that while all others things must either progress or die, our political parties have been perfect from the beginning, and do not need to be changed to suit the times and requirements of the people?

Based on recent survey data from 20 countries, this article examines the 'contagion' thesis -- lack of support among the electorate at one level of the political system may spread to other levels. The levels examined are political parties & the party system. The results demonstrate that the degree to which people are attached to a party is related to how they view the need for parties in their country. In countries with widely different democratic systems, people who identify strongly with a party tend to be much more supportive of the idea that parties are necessary to the functioning of the political system than people without strong party attachments. Hence, party identification, a concept originating with the 'Michigan Four,' is not only a very useful tool in analyzing voting behavior. It can also be applied to studying support for party-based democratic political systems. 3 Tables, 20 References. Adapted from the source document.