Abstract Let R(X) = Q[x1,x2 xn] be the ring of polynomials in the variables X = {x1, X2,..., xn} and R*(X) denote the quotient of R(X) by the ideal generated by the elementary symmetric functions. Given a a e Sn, we let g a ( X ) = Yai>ai+1 (xa1,xa2 ... xai). In the late 1970s I. Cessel conjectured that these monomials, called the descent monomials, are a basis for R*(X). Actually, this result ...