The 1976 elections pointed up once again a singular fact about American politics: The United States is the only demo- cratic industrialized nation in which not a single independent socialist or labor party representative holds elective office. A study of the factors that have made this so offers some revealing insights into American society and the nature of our political parties.

Americans do not lack the opportunity to vote for socialists. On the ballot in various states in the 1976 elections were candidates of six different radical parties, ranging from the Socialist Labor Party, which has run presidential candi- dates since the late 19th century, to the Communist Party.* None of these parties, however, polled as many as 100,000 votes nationally out of a total of close to 80 million. Al- together, they received less than one-quarter of l percent of the ballots cast.

The 1976 tally of American voter support for socialism represents what is close to the lowest point in a century-long series of attempts by diverse political activists to build a socialist movement in the United States.

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