![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Primary elections in the United States reflect the most inclusive nomination process among political parties across democracies. The desire for mass participation in party nominations appears embedded in a widespread populist ideal. It remains unclear, however, the extent to which voters believe that elites should be able to influence the process. Using data from the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we demonstrate that levels of political engagement, perceived ideological distance from the party, and partisanship predict the degree of support for popular selection of party nominees. We find key differences between the parties, with Republicans, particularly conservatives, more strongly opposed to elite influence. Surprisingly, most voters tend to have a pluralistic approach to selecting nominees, allowing for party officials and experts to weigh in on picking the party’s candidates. The findings have implications for how we conceive of political parties and the kinds of nomination reforms that might be embraced by voters.
Keywords
References
| Achen, CH, Bartels, LM (2016) Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Almond, G, Verba, S (1963) The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Bartels, LM (1988) Presidential Primaries and the Dynamics of Public Choice. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Bawn, K, Cohen, M, Karol, D, Masket, S (2012) A theory of political parties: Groups, policy demands and nominations in American politics. Perspectives on Politics 10(3): 571–597. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Blais, A, Achen, CH (2019) Civic duty and voter turnout. Political Behavior 41(2): 473–497. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Boatright, RG (2013) Getting Primaried: The Changing Politics of Congressional Primary Challenges. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Cain, BE, Gray, C (2018) Parties by design: pluralist party reform in a polarized era. New York University Law Review 93: 621. Google Scholar | |
| Cain, BE (2014) Democracy More or Less: America’s Political Reform Quandary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Ceaser, JW (1982) Reforming the Reforms: A Critical Analysis of the Presidential Selection Process, 1982. Pensacola: Ballinger Publishing. Google Scholar | |
| Cohen, M, Karol, D, Noel, H, et al. (2008) The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Dahl, RA (2005) Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City, 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Downs, A (1957) An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper. Google Scholar | |
| Duverger, M (1954) Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State. London: Methuen & Co. Google Scholar | |
| Epstein, LD (1986) Political Parties in the American Mold. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Google Scholar | |
| Freeman, J (1986) The political culture of the Democratic and Republican Parties. Political Science Quarterly 101(3): 327–356. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Gardbaum, S, Pildes, RH (2018) Populism and institutional design: methods of selecting candidates for chief executive symposium: a debatable role in the process. New York University Law Review 93: 647–708. Google Scholar | |
| Gerber, AS, Huber, GA, Biggers, DR, et al. (2017) Why don’t people vote in U.S. primary elections? Assessing theoretical explanations for reduced participation. Electoral Studies 45: 119–129. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Green, DP, Palmquist, B, Schickler, E (2002) Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters. New Haven: Yale University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Grossmann, M, Hopkins, DA (2016) Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats. New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Hazan, RY, Rahat, G (2010) Democracy Within Parties: Candidate Selection Methods and Their Political Consequences. New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Herndon, AW (2018) Democrats overhaul controversial superdelegate system. The New York Times, 25 August. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/25/us/politics/superdelegates-democrats-dnc.html?module=inline (accessed 11 March 2020). Google Scholar | |
| Hibbing, JR, Theiss-Morse, E (2002) Stealth Democracy: Americans’ Beliefs About How Government Should Work. New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Kamarck, EC (2016) Primary Politics: Everything You Need to Know About How America Nominates Its Presidential Candidates, 3rd ed. Washington: Brookings Institution Press. Google Scholar | |
| Katz, RS (2001) The problem of candidate selection and models of party democracy. Party Politics 7(3): 277–296. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Key, VO (1958) Politics, Parties and Pressure Groups, 4th ed. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. Google Scholar | |
| Levitsky, S, Ziblatt, D (2018) How Democracies Die. New York: Crown. Google Scholar | |
| McGhee, E, Masket, S, Shor, B, et al. (2014) A primary cause of partisanship? Nomination systems and legislator ideology. American Journal of Political Science 58(2): 337–351. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Masket, SE (2009) No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Mayer, WG (2000) In Pursuit of the White House 2000: How We Choose Our Presidential Nominees. New York: Chatham House Publishers. Google Scholar | |
| Norrander, B (2015) The Imperfect Primary: Oddities, Biases and Strengths in U.S. Presidential Nomination Politics, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Norrander, B, Wendland, J (2017) Representativeness of presidential primary voters in an era of polarized parties. In: State of the parties: 2016 and beyond conference, University of Akron, OH, USA, 9–10 November 2017. Available at: https://www.uakron.edu/bliss/state-of-the-parties/papers/Norrander+Wendland.pdf Google Scholar | |
| Polsby, NW (1983) Consequences of Party Reform. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Rahat, G, Hazan, RY, Katz, RS (2008) Democracy and political parties: on the uneasy relationships between participation, competition and representation. Party Politics 14(6): 663–683. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Sartori, G (1976) Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Schattschneider, EE (1942) Party Government. New York: Farrar and Rinehart. Google Scholar | |
| Shafer, BE (1983) Quiet Revolution: The Struggle for the Democratic Party and the Shaping of Post-Reform Politics. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Google Scholar | |
| Shafer, BE (1988) Bifurcated Politics: Evolution and Reform in the National Party Convention. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Shafer, BE, Wagner, RL (2019) The Long War Over Party Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Snyder, JM, Ting, MM (2011) Electoral selection with parties and primaries. American Journal of Political Science 55: 781–795. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Spies, DC, Kaiser, A (2012) Does the mode of candidate selection affect the representativeness of parties? Party Politics 20(4): 576–590. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Tolbert, CJ, Redlawsk, DP, Bowen, DC (2009) Reforming presidential nominations: rotating state primaries or a national primary? PS: Political Science & Politics 42(1): 71–79. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Truman, DB (1951) The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion. New York: Knopf. Google Scholar | |
| Uslaner, EM (1999) The Movers and the Shirkers: Representatives and Ideologues in the Senate. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Ware, A (2002) The American Direct Primary: Party Institutionalization and Transformation in the North. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Williamson, V, Skocpol, T, Coggin, J (2011) The Tea Party and the remaking of Republican conservatism. Perspectives on Politics 9(1): 25–43. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Wilson, JQ (1962) The Amateur Democrat: Club Politics in Three Cities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar |
