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Organized for Prohibition: A New History of the Anti-Saloon League
Organized for Prohibition A New History of the AntiSaloon League Author:K. Austin Kerr The Anti-Saloon League, the organization largely responsible for the enactment of Prohibition in 1919, can be viewed as one of the earliest and most successful pressure groups in American politics. this study by K. Austin Kerr utilizes previously unavailable materials to provide the first full history of the political activity of the Anti-Saloon... more » League and the prohibition movement.
Kerr describes how the league arose out of the failures of prohibition movements in the 19th century. Explaining that the Anti-Saloon League adapted business managerial techniques to the reform struggle, Kerr shows that it created a leadership cadre who mobilized a mass constituency outside of the party system. The league stimulated and then rode the crest of Progressive optimism to national victory. but it was unsuited for its self-proclaimed role as the guardian of reform; although it main0tained a facade of power after 1920, it was not able to reconcile competing views and to enunciate a clear strategy for a dry America. While the Anti-saloon League can be given much credit for the passage of the Prohibition amendment, it must also be said that the rejection of prohibition after 1929 was facilitated by the failure of this organization.« less