Reference no: EM133354711

Assignment:

We just went through the presidential primary election season where the Republicans chose Donald Trump and the Democrats chose Joe Biden. There are several different types of primary states such as open and closed. A quick summary of what the presidential primary season is basically comes down to the Republican Party choosing who they want to represent them in the General Election in November and for the Democratic Party choosing who they want to represent them in that same General Election. The Electoral College voting system will then decide (American voters influence this with their votes) which of the two will become President. (Yes there can be Independent and other third party candidates, but there has never been a third party candidate or independent who has ever won the presidency mostly because of the Electoral College system.)

• Watch the video that explains the primary process.
• Read the short summary article on problems with the primary and ways to fix it.
• Scroll down this article until you get to the section in bold titled: "Why do Iowa and New Hampshire get to go first?" Read that section. Why New Hampshire and Iowa Go First (Constitution Center)
• or use the Washington Post link Why do Iowa and New Hampshire Get to Go First?

Iowa votes first in primary season usually in January or early February and New Hampshire votes second usually one or two weeks later.

These two states have gone first every four years in the primary system since the 1970s. The Political Professor at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, Larry Sabato (also an author of your textbook), has proposed that there should be an amendment fixing the order of which states vote first in the primary process. His suggestion is that States should be divided by region and that a type of lottery should decide which region goes first. Another political science professor has proposed something similar, but wants to use a lottery to see which individual states should go first. Be sure to address the following in your first post:

1. Which is better for determining the best general election candidates possible for the general election? An open primary or closed primary? Why?
2. Because candidates in primaries tend to try to appeal to the party base they can become pulled too far right (Republican party) or pulled too far left (Democratic party). Why does this present a problem with the choices we have for president in the General Election?
3. Iowa and New Hampshire get to go first every four years in the primaries. Some critics have suggested this is a terrible injustice because candidates who win either Iowa or New Hampshire or both gain momentum and have a better chance of being the nominee of that party. However Iowa and New Hampshire do not demographically represent the United States as a whole and so by those two states always going first they have too much influence over the two main candidates for president in the General Election. How would you propose fixing this primary system? What would be the best way to make sure that each political party would have the best candidate representing them in the General Election?