Primary Elections in the United States

The direct primary stands as one of the most significant and distinctive political reforms of the Progressive era in American history. In this book, the authors provide the most comprehensive treatment available on the topic and utilize new data on election outcomes, candidate backgrounds, incumbent performance and behavior, newspaper endorsements, and voters' preferences. They begin by studying whether primary elections have achieved the goals set by progressive reformers when they were first introduced over a century ago. They then evaluate the key roles these elections have played in the US electoral systems, such as injecting electoral competition into the regions that are dominated by one of the two major parties, helping select relatively qualified candidates for office, and, in some cases, holding incumbents accountable for their performance. They conclude with studying the degree to which primaries are responsible for the current, highly polarized environment. Anyone interested in US primary elections, US political history, or electoral institutions more generally should read this book.

1. More democracy; 2. One-party dominance, 1880 to 1950; 3. Introduction of primaries and electoral competition, 1892 to 1950; 4. Primaries and party loyalty; 5. Primaries and the qualifications of nominees; 6. Voting behavior and primary elections, 1892 to 1950; 7. Primaries in a changing electoral environment, 1950 to 2016; 8. Primaries and candidate selection in the modern era; 9. Voting behavior and primary elections, 1950 to 2016; 10. Primaries and accountability in the modern era; 11. Primaries and polarization; 12. Conclusion.

Shigeo Hirano is an associate professor in the Political Science Department at Columbia University, New York. He has published in the leading political science journals. He was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, the Yale University Center for the Study of American Politics, and the Princeton University Center for the Study of Democratic Politics.
James M. Snyder, Jr is Leroy B. Williams Professor of History and Political Science in the Government Department at Harvard University, Massachusetts, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has published more than 100 scholarly articles, many appearing in the leading political science and economics journals.