72 tables, 13 line figures California's adoption of the blanket primary in 1996 presented a unique natural experiment on the impact that election rules have on politics. Billed as a measure that would increase voter participation and end ideological polarization, Proposition 198 placed California voters once again on the frontier of political reform. Employing a variety of data sources and methodologies, the contributors to Voting at the Political Fault Line apply their wide-ranging expertise to understand how this change in political institutions affected electoral behavior and outcomes. This authoritative study analyzes the consequences of California's experiment with the blanket primary, including the incidence of, motivations behind, and persistence of crossover voting; the behavior of candidates and donors; the effects on candidate positions and party platforms; and the consequences for women, minorities, and minor-party candidates. Published in association with the Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Author(s): Bruce E. Cain, Elizabeth R. Gerber
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 384
TABLES......Page 8
FIGURES......Page 12
1. California’s Blanket Primary Experiment......Page 15
2. Crossover Voting before the Blanket: Primaries versus Parties in California History......Page 24
3. Political Reform via the Initiative Process: What Voters Think about When They Change the Rules......Page 48
4. Context and Setting: The Mood of the California Electorate......Page 71
5. The Causes and Consequences of Crossover Voting in the 1998 California Elections......Page 89
6. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Sincere and Strategic Crossover Voting in California Assembly Races......Page 119
7. Peeking Under the Blanket: A Direct Look at Crossover Voting in the 1998 Primary......Page 136
8. Crossing Over When It Counts: How the Motives of Voters in Blanket Primaries Are Revealed by Their Actions in General Elections......Page 155
9. Candidates, Donors, and Voters in California’s Blanket Primary Elections......Page 183
10. Strategic Voting and Candidate Policy Positions......Page 204
11. Openness Begets Opportunity: Minor Parties and California’s Blanket Primary......Page 226
12. Thinner Ranks Women as Candidates and California’s Blanket Primary......Page 246
13. Targets of Opportunity: California’s Blanket Primary and the Political Representation of Latinos......Page 260
14. Candidate Strategy, Voter Response, and Party Cohesion......Page 282
15. The Blanket Primary in the Courts: The Precedent and Implications of California Democratic Party v. Jones......Page 315
16. Strategies and Rules: Lessons from the 2000 Presidential Primary......Page 336
17. Conclusion......Page 356
CONTRIBUTORS......Page 367
INDEX......Page 373
