Chapter 4. Party Rules for Nominations

THEME: Rules are Never Neutral

 

Who determines procedures for selecting delegates?  

 

What group was favored by delegate selection rules 50 years ago?

•      State party leaders

•      primaries were advisory

•      delegates chosen in caucuses, conventions, that leaders could control

•      used winner-take-all rules and unit votes

 

Why role did primaries play in the  1968 Democratic nomination campaign?

•      means to protest the Vietnam War

•      VP Humphrey stayed out -- won old way

•      McCarthy challenged LBJ

•      RF Kennedy shot

 

What mayor in what city in what year created chaos that led to delegate selection reforms?

•      Richard Daley

•      Chicago, 1968

 

What were the goals of the post 1968 Democratic reforms?

•      Convention reflect party member opinions--choose delegates proportional to vote

•      close primaries to non-Democrats (no "open" primaries) -- prevent "crossover" voting

•      better represent previously underrepresented groups: minorities, women, and youth

•      increase participation--move to primaries

 

 

What were the unintended consequences?

•      Longer campaigns, more primaries -- states “frontloading”

•      raise cost

•      wear candidates out

•      bore public

•      divide and weaken parties--unhappy losers, elected officials and leaders got left out

•      make winning/governing harder--"candidate-centered" campaigns

 

 

What reforms did Democrrats try after 1980 to address some of these problems?

 

What is the “threshold” in a primary and why is it important? 

•      Minimum % vote required to get delegates -- eventually set at 15% by Democrats

•      high thresholds favor frontrunners -- low allows “darkhorses” to stay in race longer

 

What did the Democrats try to do to stop “frontloading” and shorten the primary campaign?

 

What are PLEO’s or “superdelegates” and why are they significant?  

•      Party Leaders and Elected Officials (about 18% of delegates)

•      ensure convention participation of party leaders -- could choose if primaries fail

•      create more support for candidate among powerful people in party -- help win

•      better able to govern after winning

 

Are Democratic delegates required to vote for primary winners?

•      No, may vote conscience (old rule required that they vote for winner)

•      must take a pledge

•      may be released by candidate -- the usual practice today

 

Why have Democratic rules affected Republican delegate selection procedures?

•      State law changes by Democratic controlled legislatures forced primaries on Republicans

•      Culture change: Republicans copied some reforms to not look backward and look more inclusive

•      Republican changes more modest

 

Who wins when national party rules conflict with state laws?

•      National party rules

•      Several Supreme Court cases -- national parties protected under 1st amendment under rights of free association -- states cannot dictate how delegates chosen

 

How do parties decide how many delegates each state has?

•      use formula based on state size and party vote in previous election

•      challenged in court but party rules again win because of "free association"

•      Republicans give same bonus for going Republican regardless of state size

 

Factors that affect the amount of popular participation in the delegate selection process each election year?   

•      Primaries or caucuses

•      closeness of races

•      placement toward beginning

 

How are convention delegates different than primary voters? 

•      Higher SES

•      More extreme ideologically

 

What impact have these reforms had? An overall--evaluation