In 17 days, the state-by-state slog to the presidential nomination will finally begin for both Democrats and Republicans. Since 1952, the winner has been decided before the pageants both parties still euphemistically call their "nominating conventions." It's often said that the primaries have replaced "smoke filled rooms" with "the voice of the people." Is that really true? Are primaries the best way for divided political parties to choose their leaders?
Presidential Primaries: Where Did They Come From?
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- Cowan on how Roosevelt helped prove that a primary is a good way to choose a candidate
- Cowan's 'Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary'
- Norrander's 'The Imperfect Primary: Oddities, Biases, and Strengths of US Presidential Nomination Politics'
- Cost on the cost of the 2012 Republican nomination process
- Cost's 'A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of American Political Corruption '
- Scala's 'The Four Faces of the Republican Party and the Fight for the 2016 Presidential Nomination'