The Democratic Digest: A Content Analysis1

In August, 1953, the National Committee of the Democratic Party began publishing a new magazine, the Democratic Digest. This venture represents an attempt to create a “Democratic” viewpoint on political issues and personalities of national concern. It is an essentially new form of activity in the American party arena, for, though minor parties and one-issue political movements have often sponsored periodicals to further their causes, neither of the present major parties has previously done so on the national level.The role of the national committees in the political process is still only vaguely defined. The national ticket is nominated by convention, and the Presidency is independent of, and ordinarily more powerful than, the national committee after election. The selection and campaign activities of Congressional candidates lie outside national committee control. Within these limits, any change in the scale or type of activity of the official national political organizations warrants careful study to determine its possible effects on the party system. The Democratic Digest marks such a change. In place of random speculation about the purposes and possible functions of a party magazine in the American system, a reliable content analysis of the early issues of this journal may provide a sounder basis for theory. An analysis of the manifest content of the magazine suggests certain conclusions as to the function not only of the Digest, but perhaps also of all national political party mass communication activity in our party system.