Voting at the political fault line : California's experiment with the blanket primary / edited by Bruce E. Cain and Elisabeth R. Gerber.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cain, Bruce E.

Gerber, Elisabeth R., 1964-

University of California, Berkeley. Institute of Governmental Studies.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Primaries--California.

Primaries.

California.

Physical Description:

xi, 373 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press : In association with U. C. Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, [2002]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

California's blanket primary experiment / Bruce E. Cain and Elisabeth R. Gerber

Crossover voting before the blanket: primaries versus parties in California history / Brian J. Gaines and Wendy K. Tam Cho

Political reform via the initiative process: what voters think about when they change the rules / Shaun Bowler and Todd Donovan

Context and setting: the mood of the California electorate / Mark Baldassare

The causes and consequences of crossover voting in the 1998 California elections / John Sides, Jonathan Cohen, and Jack Citrin

Should I stay or should I go? Sincere and strategic crossover voting in California assembly races / R. Michael Alvarez and Jonathan Nagler

Peeking under the blanket: a direct look at crossover voting in the 1998 primary / Anthony M. Salvanto and Martin P. Wattenberg

Crossing over when it counts: how the motives of voters in blanket primaries are revealed by their actions in general elections / Thad Kousser

Candidates, donors, and voters in California's blanket primary elections / Wendy K. Tam Cho and Brian J. Gaines

Strategic voting and candidate policy positions / Elisabeth R. Gerber

Openness begets opportunity: minor parties and California's blanket primary / Christian Collet

Thinner ranks: women as candidates and California's blanket primary / Miki Caul and Katherine Tate

Targets of opportunity: California's blanket primary and the political representation of Latinos / Gary M. Segura and Nathan D. Woods

Candidate strategy, voter response, and party cohesion / John R. Petrocik

The blanket primary in the courts: the precedent and implications of California Democratic Party v. Jones / Nathaniel Persily

Strategies and rules: lessons from the 2000 presidential primary / Bruce E. Cain and Megan Mullin .

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0520228332

0520228340

OCLC:

46959891