The problem of representative democracy has been altered in a final way by the events of the post-war years. It is improbable that any one will again defend its superiority over alternative forms of government in the terms which would have satisfied either Jefferson or Jeremy Bentham. It is obvious that any view which places confidence in the power of universal suffrage and representative institutions, unaided and of themselves, to secure a permanently well-ordered commonwealth is seriously under-estimating the complexity of the issue. Such a view not only gravely exaggerates the power of reason over interest in society; it also misconceives the dynamic nature of the purpose which representative democracy is seeking to secure.

Looking back now, at a generation's distance, upon the success of representative democracy in the nineteenth century, it is plain that this was due to the coincidence of quite special conditions.

Ever since 1889, when the Emperor Meiji granted his people a constitution, Japan may be called a constitutional monarchy. But these simple words do not tell the whole story. The designation used by the Almanach de Gotha in referring to Czarist Russia—a “constitutional autocracy”—may be as appropriately applied to modern Japan. Japan has a constitution and a monarch, but in the eyes of both the people and the statesmen of the Restoration Period, the monarch comes before the constitution.

Law as it is made by the courts, interstitially as suggested by Mr. Justice Holmes, and interpreted in the cases that arise during a year, covers only a portion of the law-making process of the American states. Judicial interpretation and judicial legislation are determined largely by the types of controversies which arise involving the interpretation and application of constitutions and laws, and by the personnel of the courts before whom the issues are litigated. It is difficult to discover the tendencies or trends which are in the molding during a decade or more of legal history; for such a short term as a year, generalizations or conclusions may be attempted only with great caution and with well understood reservations.

The significant decisions affecting state constitutional law in 1931-32 in the state supreme courts or courts of appeal and in the inferior federal courts may conveniently be grouped under the following headings: (1) the separation and delegation of powers; (2) the protection of civil rights; (3) due process of law and equal protection of the laws; (4) due process and public utility regulations; (5) due process and the police power; (6) taxation; and (7) miscellaneous decisions.

Since the reëlection of President von Hindenburg on April 10, eight German Länder have held parliamentary elections. Five, i.e., Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Hamburg, and Anhalt, held Landtag elections on April 24; Mecklenburg-Schwerin elected a new parliament on May 4; Oldenburg reconstituted its legislative body on May 29; and on June 19 the voters of Hessen went to the polls (for the fourth time in seven months) to replace the Landtag elected on November 14 and subsequently declared illegal by the courts. These eight Länder comprise eighty-three per cent of the population of Germany, and the elections enumerated have brought into clear relief present political tendencies throughout the country: the rapidly growing strength of National Socialism; the increasing dissatisfaction with Socialistic attempts to overcome the economic crisis; the progressive disappearance of the middle parties, with the exception of the Catholic Center; and the relatively slow growth of Communistic influence. The table on the following page undertakes to present the results of the elections and to show the political status in the seventeen German Länder as it is today.

The Australian scheme of federal aid includes two types of federal assistance to states: (1) direct financial assistance, and (2) indirect assistance through state-federal arrangements. Similarities between the schemes of the United States and Australia appear in the first type of federal aid. In the second type, however, the Australian system assumes its distinctive characteristics and makes an advance over its American prototype.

It is safe to say that very few people in the United States have any appreciation of the importance of the Netherlands Indies to Holland, to the world at large, or to the United States. Yet they constitute a major part in the economic prosperity of Holland, furnish a large element in the international trade of the world, and are significant factors in the foreign trade of the United States. They are also the seat of political developments, resulting from the political awakening of Asia, which are worth attention.

From west to east, these islands extend more than 3,000 miles, or as far as from San Francisco to the longitude of the eastern end of Maine; and from north to south, more than 1,000 miles.