The Nominating The Nominating ProcessProcess

The Nominating The Nominating ProcessProcess

Chapter 7—Section 1Chapter 7—Section 1

Nominations are Important

• It is the prime function of political parties in the US

• It is the leading reason for the decentralized character of the major parties

• It puts limits on voter choice in the election

Ways of Nominating

• Self-announcement– John Anderson in 1980– Ross Perot in 1992

• Caucus– Meetings of “like-minded” people– Often the members of a party in the

state legislature, or in Congress

The End of the Caucus--1824

• Three of the leading contenders boycotted the Democratic-Republican Congressional Caucus

• The “nominee” ran a poor third in the electoral college balloting

• As it died at the national level, it soon did at the state and local level too.

The Convention•The Whigs began in 1831•The Democrats joined in

1832•All major party presidential

nominees have been chosen by convention ever since

Pyramid Process• Party members meet locally

– Choose candidates for local offices– Choose delegates for county convention

• County delegates meet– Choose candidates for county office– Choose delegates to the state

convention

The Pyramid Grows …• State Convention

– Delegates choose candidates for state-wide offices

– Choose delegates to National Convention

• National Convention– Delegates select Presidential and Vice

Presidential candidates

Problems …• Party bosses manipulated the

process• Controlled selection of delegates

and the local level• They soon dominated the entire

system

Growth of the Direct Primary

• Except for nominating national candidates for Pres. & VP, the direct primary is used in most states

• It is an election within the party to choose their candidates for a general election

Types of Primaries•Closed

– Only the declared members of a party may vote

•Open– Any qualified voter may take

part

Closed Primary

• Pros– It prevents one party from “raiding”

the other’s primary to choose weaker candidates

– Makes candidates more responsive to the party, its platform, and members

– Helps make voters more thoughtful

Closed Primary

• Cons– It compromises the secrecy of the

ballot– It tends to exclude independent

voters

Open Primary• Pros

– It answers the secret ballot and no independents concerns of the Close Primary

•Cons– It permits

party “raiding”

– It undercuts the concepts of party loyalty and responsibility

Washington State•Blanket primary has been

eliminated•Can only vote on one

party’s ballot•Final decision is currently in

the courts

Runoff Primary• Where a majority is required to

win and no one gets a majority, the top two vote getters face each other in a runoff primary election and the winner of that vote becomes the nominee

Negatives• Because people don’t realize the

importance of the primary—turnout is poor

• Every election is expensive• Many qualified candidates don’t

run due to the cost of a campaign

More negatives …• A fight within a party during the

primary can cost them the general election

• Primaries often are won based solely on name recognition

Presidential Primary• Some states use it to elect some

or all of that state’s delegates to the National Convention

• And/or it is a preference election in which voters can choose among various contenders for a party’s presidential nomination

Nomination by Petition• Found most widely at the local

level• Petitions are signed by a certain

number of qualified voters• Usually required to nominate

independent candidates• Often a difficult process

The End