The primary was devised a century ago as a corrective to the backroom bargains previously used to pick candidates.
Today, this Progressive-era reform is a common means to select candidates for general elections.
In recent years, however, the primary system has come into question as an effective method for nominating political candidates in an era of intensifying polarization, with many proposals to reform, restructure, or overhaul it.
Join AEI’s Howard Husock, Kevin Kosar, and John Fortier; Ethics & Public Policy Center’s Henry Olsen; Brookings Institution’s Elaine Kamarck; Hoover Institution’s Benjamin Ginsberg; and the Republican Party of Virginia’s Michael Ginsberg for two panel discussions on whether party primaries are the most effective means to select legislators and how they shape governance in a time of partisan polarization