Primaries and caucuses are some of the first steps to becoming the president of the United States. Candidates who've announced their intention to run for this important office first have to convince members of their political party that they deserve a nomination. Primaries and caucuses help political parties choose their official party candidate. Readers will learn about the history of and key parts and processes associated with American primaries and caucuses. Primary sources and informative fact boxes give historical context to these important events in the journey to becoming the president of the United States.

The 2020 presidential primaries are on the horizon and this third edition of Elaine Kamarck's Primary Politics will be there to help make sense of them. Updated to include the 2016 election, it will once again be the guide to understanding the modern nominating system that gave the American electorate a choice between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. In Primary Politics, political insider Elaine Kamarck explains how the presidential nomination process became the often baffling system we have today, including the “robot rule.” Her focus is the largely untold story of how presidential candidates since the early 1970s have sought to alter the rules in their favor and how their failures and successes have led to even more change. She describes how candidates have sought to manipulate the sequencing of primaries to their advantage and how Iowa and New Hampshire came to dominate the system. She analyzes the rules that are used to translate votes into delegates, paying special attention to the Democrats' twenty-year fight over proportional representation and some of its arcana. Drawing on meticulous research, interviews with key figures in both parties, and years of experience, this book explores one of the most important questions in American politics—how we narrow the list of presidential candidates every four years.

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.

How are the electoral procedures used in presidential nomination campaigns? Haskell provides an overview of the historical developments that led to the presidential nomination process and analyzes the basic elements of public choice analysis as they apply to nomination campaigns. The book serves as a basic text and an introduction to the study of the nomination process as a method of public choice. Haskell argues that the current arrangements in the presidential nomination process are deeply flawed and offers a set of reforms to the existing system, including using approval voting in the earliest primaries and diminishing the effect of frontloading primaries. Fundamentally Flawed will interest scholars and students of American government, political parties, the presidency, and campaigns and elections.

Designed as a basic reference for the study of the presidential selection process, Presidential Primaries and Caucuses: 1992 was first published in 1992 to cover the primaries and caucuses of that year. Included are final, official county-by-county results for every presidential primary held in 1992 -- primaries in 38 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, this volume includes data on the results of caucuses in states that use this system.This title is one of a complete library of election data reference books published by Congressional Quarterly to support research on national and state voting patterns.