ABSTRACT
In this final chapter provides the oddities, biases, and strengths in early 21st-century American presidential nomination politics. However, these three characteristics are not unique to the most recent nomination era. The extended US presidential election cycle is odd in comparisons to other democratic countries. Candidates seeking either the Democratic or Republican Party's presidential nomination often begin to test the waters two or three years before the next election. Party reforms from the 1970s produced greater fairness in delegate selection, but subsequent trends toward front-loading and early candidate withdrawals created their own problems. The rise of super Political Action Committee (PAC) in the 2000s brings on new controversies about the role of wealth and influence in elections. In other years, the process is extended as the party more slowly makes up its collective mind. For most of the 20th century, US political parties were described by political scientists as composed of three distinctive parts.
