Independent Vote Is a Myth, J. C. Palamountain Asserts

Much of the independent vote in American presidential elections is a myth, stated Joseph C. Palamountain, Jr., in his lecture, "The Two-Party System: Is There a Choice?" last Thursday afternoon in Lamont.

Citing figures on the last Presidential election, Palamountain asserted that Stevenson's loss in 1952 was due at least as much to Democrats' failure to vote as it was to the relatively small number of independent votes for the Republican candidates and to the loss of Democratic votes to Eisenhower.

The afternoon lecturer today will be Professor Denis Johnston of Mount Holyoke, who will speak on "Television as a Medium for the Writer" at 3 p.m. in Lamont Forum Room.

Defending the two-party system against those who claim that it does not greatly matter whom we elect as President, Palamountain said that there is an important difference in the two parties' interpretations of the Presidency. He conceded that the men who make the policies in many government offices remain the same regardless of the existing administration, but asserted that Eisenhower has a "Whig" view that Congress is an equal and co-ordinate arm of the Government. Recent Democratic presidents have followed the policy that the Chief Executive is the "Voice of the people" whose business it is to tell Congress what to do, rather than merely to make suggestions, he pointed out.