Title
Open Versus Closed Primaries and the Ideological Composition of Presidential Primary Electorates
Department
History & Political Science
Document Type
Article
Publication Source
Electoral Studies
Publication Date
2016-6
Volume
42
First Page
229
Last Page
236
Abstract
Many journalists, political reformers and social scientists assume that electorates in open versus closed primaries are distinctive, especially in terms of their ideological orientations. Because voting in closed primaries is restricted to registered partisans, voters in this setting are assumed to be more ideologically extreme. Independents voting in open primaries are seen as moderating the ideological orientation of these primary electorates. However, our research demonstrates that the ideological orientations of voters in these two primary settings are quite similar. Prior research demonstrates the influence of primary laws on voters’ self-identifications as partisans or independents. We expand upon this research to show how this influences the number and ideological positions of partisans and independents as they vote in presidential primaries held under differing participation rules.
Keywords
open primaries, closed primaries, ideology, party identification, presidential primaries
DOI
10.1016/j.electstud.2016.03.003
Recommended Citation
Norrander, B., & Wendland, J. (2016). Open Versus Closed Primaries and the Ideological Composition of Presidential Primary Electorates. Electoral Studies, 42, 229-236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2016.03.003
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2016.03.003