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In the past quarter century, presidential nominating contests have become as exciting as the presidential election. The mass media devote more time, space, and staff to cover the presidential primaries and Iowa caucuses than the general election itself. Each week from late February to early June, the TV networks headline these contests, expecially in the challenging party. The stakes are high, for the winner of these contests will invariably be the party nominee. This sourcebook provides the reader with a comprehensive and convenient resource for following and understanding the presidential primary and the three or four-tier caucus-convention system used throughout the 50 states to send delegates to the quadrennial national nominating conventions. Historical perspectives as well as precedents are documented. Statistical tables and a glossary of terms provide helpful tools for augmenting the reader's understanding.
"Explores one of the most important questions in American politics--how we narrow the list of presidential candidates every four years. Focuses on how presidential candidates have sought to alter the rules in their favor and how their failures and successes have led to even more change"--Provided by publisher.
Every four years, the presidential nominating process generates complaints and proposed modifications, often directed at the seemingly haphazard and fast-paced calendar of primaries and caucuses. The rapid pace of primaries and caucuses that characterized the 2000 and 2004 cycles continued in 2008, despite national party efforts to reverse the phenomenon known as front- loading. Because many states scheduled early contests in the 2000 cycle, both parties subsequently created task forces on the process. The nominating system has resisted wholesale change despite criticism every four years from voters, the candidates, and the press. After several decades of debate, observers are divided on the best approach to reform. The lack of consensus for reworking the primary system is due partly to its complex design, which frustrates pursuit of a simple, obvious solution, and partly to the political parties pursuing their own variable interests concerning their delegate selection rules. The states further complicate the process by independently scheduling primary election dates. Congress, political commentators, academics, and others have offered various reform proposals over the years, but many important dimensions of reform depend on whether the parties are willing to change the system for choosing delegates to their national conventions. Contents of this report: 2008 Election; Calendar Changes, 1988-2008; National Party Rules Changes for 2012; Evaluating the Primary System; Reform Proposals; Legislative Considerations. Figure and table. This is a print on demand report.
This report describes the four stages of the presidential election process: the pre-nomination primaries and caucuses for selecting delegates to the national conventions; the national nominating conventions; the general election; and voting by members of the electoral college to choose the President and Vice President. The report will be updated again for the 2004 presidential election.
This is the first major study of the origins of direct primary elections in the U.S. since the 1920s. It rejects the widely held view that primaries resulted from a conflict between anti-party reformers and so-called party "regulars." Instead, it shows that the direct primary was the result of an attempt, starting in the late 1880s, by mainstream party politicians to subject their previously informal procedures to formal rules. Politicians turned to the direct primary because it proved impossible to make effective changes to the caucus-convention system of nominating candidates.