Pros And Cons Of Primaries

Words: 628
Pages: 3

The dictionary defines a primary election as a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party conference or to select the candidates for a principle, especially presidential, election. Before a primary happens, delegates will collectively decide which candidates will run for election at a national convention. These national conventions can happen two ways; in a caucus or a primary. In a caucus, only voters registered with a certain party can attend. There are also two different kinds of primaries; and open primary where independents and other members of parties are allowed to select a party’s candidate, and a closed primary where only party members are allowed to choose a party’s nominee for election. Overall, in a primary, anyone can vote for a candidate in a party’s convention, whereas in a caucus, they have to be registered to vote at a convention. And usually caucuses have a lower participation rate than primaries. Primaries, ultimately, should not be banned because they are more democratic. Many Americans have differencing views on primaries, some even propose a new election process. Phil Keisling in To Reduce Partisanship, Get Rid of Partisans, he explains that America should have a “fully open/top two” primary. In this sort of primary he explains how all …show more content…
Primaries have many positive aspects such as they are open to all voters, the representatives all have a chance at winning the presidency, and manipulative tactics in open primaries are rarely materialized. Also reforming primaries don’t work because Sides says, there aren’t enough true independents voting in primaries to decrease polarization. He also says voters lack the information need to distinguish between candidates, which allows more extreme candidates to run. Overall, primaries should not be changed because it didn’t reduce polarization like it was intended to, in