Viewing Carl J. Buell, "The Minnesota Legislature of 1915."Carl J. Buell, "The Minnesota Legislature of 1915."Carl Buell's "The Minnesota Legislature of 1915" was the fourth in a series of eight books that closely examined how the state legislature actually functioned in its 1909, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921 and 1923 sessions. The authors of these books--Lynn Haines wrote the first two and Carl Buell the last six -- investigated and highlighted the influence of special interests, especially the liquor and mining concerns. Like other muckraking journalists of the Progressive Era they believed that if corrupt practices and the activities of special interests were exposed, "the people" would rise up and demand changes to the political system, leading to greater democracy. In the Preface to his 1915 exposé, Buell writes with some satisfaction about the effects of the public's reaction to the first three studies:
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