The American Direct Primary

Abstract

This book rejects conventional accounts of how American political parties differ from those in other democracies. It focuses on the introduction of the direct primary and argues that primaries resulted from a process of party institutionalization initiated by party elites. It overturns the widely accepted view that, between 1902 and 1915, direct primaries were imposed on the parties by anti-party reformers intent on weakening them. An examination of particular northern states shows that often the direct primary was not controversial, and only occasionally did it involve confrontation between party 'regulars' and their opponents. Rather, the impetus for direct nominations came from attempts within the parties to subject informal procedures to formal rules. However, it proved impossible to reform the older caucus-convention system effectively, and party elites then turned to the direct primary - a device that already had become more common in rural counties in the late nineteenth century.

A Partisan Model of Electoral Reform: Voter Identification Laws and Confidence in State Elections

“…Changes to the electoral system in Australia (Farrell and McAllister 2005), British Columbia (Angus 1952), and New Zealand (Banducci and Karp 1999) have been documented in terms of strategic elites seeking partisan advantage (also see Bawn 1993 on Germany). Mass and elite support for election reform proposals in the United States such as legislative term limits (Karp 1995), changes in redistricting rules (Donovan 2011), primary election rules (Cain and Gerber 2001;Ware 2002), and direct election of the president (Karp and Tolbert 2010) can also be understood through strategic calculations of partisans. In many of these cases, the attitudes of partisans in the public can be seen as reflecting the positions of party elites.…”

527 Committees, Formal Parties, and Party Adaptation

“…The direct primary was touted by early 20th century Progressive reformers as a way to remove party officials from the selection of nominees, yet party insiders managed to dominate these contests with relative ease (Ware 2002). Reforms to the presidential nominating system in the late 1960s briefly allowed for the nomination of outsiders, but by the 1980s, party elites had developed methods of dominating this system (Cohen et al 2008).…”

Individual Ambition and Institutional Opportunity: A Conceptual Approach to Political Careers in Multi-level Systems

“…The strong party machines of old have been eroded to a large extent as a consequence of their losing control over their personnel running for public office. This was due to the introduction of the direct primary (Ware, 2002). But even where parties are stronger, patterns differ.…”