ABSTRACT
It is easy to take the format of American elections for granted—we hold primary elections to determine our major party nominees, and we then hold a general election to choose between the two parties’ nominees. As the previous chapters of this book have made clear, however, the way in which the party nominees are chosen has changed repeatedly over the past century. Some of these changes have been the results of sincere efforts to improve the election process, while others have been the results of efforts by the parties to increase their chances of winning elections.
