Origin story : The primaries are seen as typically American today, but the constitution does not provide for this system. In the United States, it was once the local party elites who designated delegates for the national conventions. At the beginning of the 20th century, the progressive reform movement democratized the selection process. In 1910, Oregon became the first member state to introduce an area code that required delegates to support the appropriate winner at the party convention. In many countries, however, the primaries in the first half of the 20th century were “beauty contests”, in which the popularity of the candidates was tested. A trigger for new rules was the chaotic party convention of the Democrats in 1968 when Hubert Humphrey was chosen as a candidate without winning a single area code. From then on, most delegates had to stick to the result of the area code in their country. By 1992, the parties had introduced primaries in around 40 member states using the current system.
The procedure : Today two types of primaries, primaries, and caucuses, dominate. In the former, the delegates who commit to a specific presidential candidate are elected at the ballot box. The caucuses, on the other hand, are party gatherings at which those present are selected. This procedure is an advantage for candidates who have a particularly motivated basis, such as Bernie Sanders. The national party leadership now prefers urn elections but leaves the party sections to decide on the procedure. In 2020, the Democrats will only hold Caucuses in six member states, including Iowa.
Less than 5 percent of democratic delegates are awarded this way, compared to 14 percent in 2016. The Republicans have fewer member states. There are also “open” and “closed” primaries – depending on whether only party members or non-party members or even members of the counterparty are admitted. With the Democrats, the delegates in all member states are distributed in the proportional system based on the election results, while with the Republicans, the winner is often assigned all delegates (“winner take all” principle). Besides, the Democrats only receive delegate votes if they have more than 15 percent of the votes in a member state. The details of the procedures differ not only between the parties but also between the member states.
The timing : The primaries traditionally begin with the Iowa caucuses, which took place on February 3 this year. The first primaries took place a week later in New Hampshire. For both parties, these two primaries are only about 60 delegates each – a negligible number in the final accounts. Nevertheless, the candidates put the focus of their election campaign on these early-voting states months in advance of the start of the primary elections, because these emanate a high symbolic power. After months of campaigning, they are the first real test, and the winners are immediately drawn to the glaring public spotlights. For this reason, a completely new dynamic can arise.
