Skip to main content
ABC News
Is Our Primary System Democratic?

Back in the 1970s, we changed how we choose presidential nominees. Those changes supposedly made our primary system more democratic by allowing voters to cast a ballot in a primary or caucus rather than having party leaders pick a candidate. But there is more to a well-functioning democracy than just being able to vote. In this episode of The Primaries Project, we look why our primary system may not reflect the views of the people.

Want more videos like this? Subscribe to FiveThirtyEight on YouTube. And subscribe to FiveThirtyEight’s Politics Podcast feed for an even deeper dive.

Make sure to check out FiveThirtyEight’s Democratic primary forecast.

Anna Rothschild was FiveThirtyEight’s senior producer for video.

Galen Druke is FiveThirtyEight’s podcast producer and reporter.

Comments

Latest Interactives