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One possible synthesis of pressure politics and party politics might be produced by describing politics as the socialization of conflict. That is to say, the political process is a sequence: conflicts are initiated by highly motivated, hightension groups so directly and immediately involved that it is difficult for them to see the justice of competing claims.

— Elmer Eric Schattschneider The Semisovereign People (1960)

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More quotes by Elmer Eric Schattschneider

Democracy is a political system for people who are not sure that they are right.

Two Hundred Million Americans in Search of a Government (1969)

In the nature of things a political conflict among special interests is never restricted to the groups most immediately interested.

The Semisovereign People (1960)

The failure to understand that unification and division are a part of the same process has produced some illusions about politics.

The Semisovereign People (1960)

Democracy begins as an act of imagination about people. For this reason democracy is a doctrine of social criticism.

Two Hundred Million Americans in Search of a Government (1969)

Sectionalism tends strongly to depress party organization because elections in one-party areas are won not by competing with the opposition party but by eliminating it.

The Semisovereign People (1960)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Elmer Eric Schattschneider (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.