Presidential Nominating Process: Current Issues Page: 4 of 10
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Presidential Nominating Process: Current
Issues
The contemporary nominating system, in which primaries are the dominant
feature, grew out of sweeping reforms adopted in the early 1970s. For the preceding
120 years, state delegations to the national party conventions had been largely chosen
by party leaders or in closed caucus meetings that vested control in the party
hierarchy. Although the primary was introduced by Progressive reformers just after
the turn of the century, it did not replace party control of the process for choosing
delegates to the conventions for many decades. Florida was the first state to adopt
a version of the primary in 1901, but Wisconsin's 1905 law was the first to provide
for the use of the primary in presidential nominations.1 By 1916, at least 20 states
had a presidential primary in some form. However, many states quickly abandoned
the method when the Progressive movement faded and the number of primaries
dropped in the years following the First World War.
The number of primaries began to increase again after World War II, but they
initially had little effect on winning the nomination. Candidates often chose one or
more specific state primaries in which to compete to demonstrate their potential
electability, but the primary process did not usually determine the selection of
delegates and did not threaten party control of the state delegations. In the 1952
Democratic race, for example, Senator Estes Kefauver (TN) prevailed in 12 of the 15
primaries held, captured 64% of the vote nationally, but failed to win the nomination.
Instead, the convention chose Governor Adlai Stevenson, who had won 1.6% of the
primary vote nationwide.2
Pressure to change the nominating system mounted in the turbulent political
climate of the 1960s due to the perception that the process was undemocratic. A
transforming event occurred at the Democratic convention in 1968, where violent
confrontations between war protesters and the Chicago police outside the convention
hall, and bitter credentials disputes inside, spurred Democrats to completely change
the party's nominating rules. The new rules transferred the power of choosing
delegates from party leaders to rank-and-file voters, opening the process to
widespread popular participation for the first time. Many state parties switched to
primaries to comply with the newly adopted national party rules. The Republican
Party also modified its rules in the early 1970s. Subsequently, as shown in Figure 1,
the number of party primaries in the states rose steadily. Between 1968 and 1992,
the number of states with Democratic party primaries increased from 15 to 40; states
1 William Crotty and John S. Jackson III, Presidential Primaries and Nominations,
(Washington, Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1985), p. 14.
2 Congressional Quarterly, U.S. Guide to Elections, 3rd ed. (Washington, D.C., CQ Press,
1994), p. 513.
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Presidential Nominating Process: Current Issues, report, October 24, 2007; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc805772/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.