 Hook’s understanding of the dilemma led him to the belief that it was legitimate for a democratic system to take steps to constrain the influence of anti-democratic or totalitarian groups or parties within a democratic society. In the United States, the question of the right of the American Fascist Party or the American Communist Party to participate in electoral politics did not rise to the level of political controversy, probably because of the lack of popular support for these parties. The issue was drawn, however, over the legitimacy of excluding members or advocates of such parties from positions which involved access to national security decisions as well as their exclusion from positions of major influence in the cultural sphere. Hook sought to resolve this dilemma in a controversial book titled Heresy, Yes – Conspiracy, No. The line that Hook sought to draw was the granting of full cultural and political freedom to any heretical anti-democratic views. At the same time, if holders of such views were organized as a disciplined cadre which could represent a threat to national security or as a doctrinally controlled movement which could exercise coercive influence in a free marketplace of ideas, then the activities of such groups could be limited. Critics charged that in developing the thesis of Heresy, Yes – Conspiracy, No, Hook was in effect permitting the exclusion of Communist Party members or “fellow travelers” from holding jobs in universities or from holding positions of power or influence in cultural activities like films and theater. In Hook’s defense, the record would show that Hook was involved in the formulation of a thesis within the theory of democracy about the legitimacy of the line to be drawn in defense of democracy, rather than the application of this thesis to individual cases. Thus, Hook did not seek to resolve the question of what kind of evidence would constitute participation in a conspiracy as between such diverse considerations as the fact of membership in a political party, the criterion of “advocacy” for policies that were considered as “subversive,” indoctrination along lines laid down and enforced by a leadership cadre, or participation in an espionage ring.