Institutional Structure and Democratic Values: A Research Note on a Natural Experiment
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Byron Shafer
The presidential nominating contest of 2008 resurrected an earlier debate about the democratic impact of the main institutional alternatives for delegate selection. This time, however, the debate came packaged with a major 'natural experiment' comparing the impact of primaries versus caucuses, courtesy of the Democratic Party of Texas which actually used both institutions on the same day to select different parts of the Texas delegation. Evidence from their simultaneous use suggests that the power of strong racial and ethnic attachments is not much influenced by the choice of institutions. Yet the same evidence suggests that the power of social class and class position is powerfully influenced by just such a choice. This result appears to present a particularly sharp dilemma for the self-conscious party of the less advantaged, the Democrats.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- Introduction
- Article
- Perception and Reality in Congressional Earmarks
- Institutional Structure and Democratic Values: A Research Note on a Natural Experiment
- Even Closer, Even Longer: What If the 2008 Democratic Primary Used Republican Rules?
- How Barack Obama's Votes Beat Hillary Clinton's Votes in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Contest: Not Malapportionment, But Turnout Variation and the Florida Effect
- Campaign Microtargeting and the Relevance of the Televised Political Ad
- The Obama Effect: Patterns of Geographic Clustering in the 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections
- U.S. Health Care and Real Health in Comparative Perspective: Lessons from Abroad
- Review
- Review of The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- Introduction
- Article
- Perception and Reality in Congressional Earmarks
- Institutional Structure and Democratic Values: A Research Note on a Natural Experiment
- Even Closer, Even Longer: What If the 2008 Democratic Primary Used Republican Rules?
- How Barack Obama's Votes Beat Hillary Clinton's Votes in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Contest: Not Malapportionment, But Turnout Variation and the Florida Effect
- Campaign Microtargeting and the Relevance of the Televised Political Ad
- The Obama Effect: Patterns of Geographic Clustering in the 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections
- U.S. Health Care and Real Health in Comparative Perspective: Lessons from Abroad
- Review
- Review of The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns
