Abstract: A paradox in the comparative literature on electoral systems is that one of the most common systems in Europe – flexible-list proportional representation systems – may be the least understood. Any ...

Abstract: Primary elections were supposed to limit the influence of party bosses on the nomination process. The decision to run for House or Senate and a candidate's success in securing the party's nomination for these offices has been considered to be largely candidate-centered. In The Party's Primary, Hans J. G. Hassell shows that parties have a strong influence on the options available to voters and shape the outcomes of the nomination process. Drawing on interviews with party insiders and candidates, Hassell highlights the resources that parties have at their disposal that are not readily available outside the party network and the process by which party elites coordinate behind preferred candidates. Using data from almost 3000 nomination contests for House and Senate in the past decade, this book shows that parties use these tools to clear the field for their preferred candidate and exert a strong influence on the outcomes of primary elections.

Abstract: The 2016 Presidential election brought a surprise: the rise of Donald Trump as a viable candidate for the Republican nomination. What started as a seeming publicity stunt morphed into something more. Trump raised fears of authoritarianism—and even fascism—that were thought to be mostly confined to other countries. This study uses a national sample to examine television viewing's relationship to authoritarian values. We find that heavy viewers of television are more likely to be authoritarian, and that authoritarians are more likely to support Trump. We find an indirect relationship between amount of viewing and Trump support through authoritarianism. These findings have implications for current political debates as well as for media effects theory.

Abstract: It is widely assumed that political parties need to have members in order to fulfil their functions in a representative democracy (drawing up platforms, candidate nomination and electoral mobilization) and in terms of their legitimacy. However, the theoretical literature on party models – the evolution from the mass party to the catch-all party, the electoral-professional party and/or the cartel party – suggests an increasing marginalization of members within the party organization. In the business-firm party model, members no longer have any role whatsoever. The next phase in this development seems to be a party without members. This article analyses the contextual (societal, communicational and institutional) factors favouring the rise and endurance of the memberless party as well as the strategic conditions for doing without formal membership (such as maximizing the centralization of internal decision-making, promoting party unity and enhancing electoral effectiveness). The functioning of two no-member...

Abstract: The role of the nomination committee (NC) in the selection of members of various ethnic groups for board membership has increased significantly as a result of the global financial crisis of 2008 A company board that comprises directors who come from all the three major ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and Indian Malaysians) increases the efficiency of the board in its monitoring and advising roles According to the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance (MCCG 2012), the NC shall be responsible for the appointment and recognition of candidates of diverse backgrounds into the board and committee With that in mind, this paper examines the presence of Malay, Chinese and Indian directors in a nomination committee and its impact on the ethnic diversity of its board This paper also examines the influence of the executive directors who are members in the nomination committee on the nomination process For this purpose, 393 (50%) Malaysian listed companies were selected from the three year period of 2011 to 2013 Only non-financial companies were included because other companies such as finance have a different set of regulations in Malaysia In this study, descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression were used for the purpose of revealing important significance of the variables used In order to control possible endogeneity issues, the GMM estimator was also administered The regression results of the ethnic diversity model are statistically significant, showing that, a higher proportion of Malay and Chinese directors in a nomination committee has negative relationships while a higher proportion of Indian directors in a nomination committee increases their representation on the board However, the proportion of executive directors in the nomination committee was found to have a significant impact on the director nomination process of Malay, Chinese and Indian directors In order to test the robustness of the model, several sets of measures were used In conclusion, it is deduced that the results of this study support the social identity theory and power struggle; it shows the importance of diversity within the nominating committee of Malaysian companies The result also reveals that unbiased and effective board mix enhances the strategic decision-making process of the board

Abstract: Previous research dismisses the possibility that populist, male-dominated parties could positively affect gender equality. Yet, evidence from Eastern Europe points at the opposite: Center-rightist formations, led by notable men, have effectively nominated women to office. What can explain such a puzzling phenomenon? This study argues that i) the centralized structure and practices in these populist parties make it possible to avoid the reluctance of gatekeepers to let female candidates run; and that ii) regardless of ideological or cultural predispositions, supporters loyally approve the nomination decisions made by their charismatic leader. We analyze data on three populist parties in Bulgaria and Poland. Our findings confirm that these formations elected more women than the leftist parties because of strategies to nominate female candidates higher on the list. Voters were also more likely to favor female candidates in the open-list system in Poland.

Abstract: This paper is an analysis of the Trump and Sanders’ campaigns for the presidential nomination of their respective parties. It studies the structure of the relationship between the campaign and its ...

Abstract: Scholars interested in bargaining over political appointments typically analyze the duration between the candidate’s nomination and eventual disposition, ignoring the prior period between vacancy and nomination. Using a dataset of vacancies reported to the Government Accountability Office, we instead examine the nomination stage. We uncover both commonalities and differences between the dynamics of nomination and those of confirmation. Ideological divergence between the President and the Senate filibuster pivot tends to delay nominations but only under divided government. Presidents not only move more quickly on more important positions, but are also influenced by the ideological leanings of the agencies.

Abstract: Students of judicial behavior debate whether justices time their retirement to allow for the nomination of like-minded judges. We formalize the assumptions of strategic retirement theory an...

Abstract: Reddit has developed into a significant platform for political discussion among Millennials. In this exploratory study, we examine subscription trends on three political sub-forums on Reddit during the 2016 US presidential elections: /The_Donald, /SandersForPresident, and /HillaryClinton. As a theoretical framework, we draw from work on online communities’ group identity and cohesion. Concretely, we investigate how subscription dynamics relate to positive, negative and neutral news events occurring during the election cycle. We classify news events using a sentiment analysis of event-related news headlines. We observe that users who supported Sanders displayed no consolidation of support for Clinton after she won the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Secondly, we show that negative news events affected Sanders and Clintons subscription trends negatively, while showing no effect for Donald Trump. This gives empirical credence to Trump’s controversial claim that he could “stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters”. We offer a number of explanations for the observed phenomena: the nature of the content of the three subreddits, their cultural dynamics, and changing dynamics of partisanship. We posit that the ‘death of expertise’ expresses itself on Reddit as a switch in persuasion tactics from a policy-based to an emotions-based approach, and that group members’ agreement on policy proved a weak marker for online communities’ group identity and cohesion. We also claim that strong partisanship coupled with weak party affiliation among Millennials contributed to the low levels of Democratic support consolidation after Clinton won the nomination.

Abstract: The 2017 Chief Executive election in Hong Kong demonstrated the severity of factional politics in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, where the pro-democracy faction has been struggling for power against the pro-Beijing camp It also showed Mainland China’s emphasis on the centralist aspect of the principle of democratic centralism in which the Hong Kong Chief Executive was elected by a relatively small group of elites, most of whom were under the influence of Beijing The Chinese-style of democracy was reflected in the desire of Mainland officials and the pro-Beijing press to ensure the easy victory of Carrie Lam, who was the only candidate from the pro-Beijing faction The efforts of Beijing and its agents to secure Lam’s victory pervaded the pre-nomination, nomination, campaign and election, and post-election stages of the electoral process The process highlighted the uneasiness of China in possibly having to deal with an uncertain outcome of a limitedly pluralistic electoral experience

Abstract: This issue of New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development looks at current practices and recent advances in peer nomination methodology. Peer nominations provide a key method for assessing relationships, social status, and interpersonal behavior. This introductory article begins with a history of peer nomination methods, with a focus on the early origins of peer informant measures and the nature of Moreno's (1934) sociometric methodology (highlighting fundamental differences from the modern sociometric procedure). Next, the article addresses major changes that have occurred in peer nomination research over the course of the past 2 decades, including the recent focus on popularity and relational aggression, statistical advances, logistical challenges and innovations, and the changing conventions of the nomination procedure itself. The final section includes a brief overview of the articles included in this issue.

Abstract: 1 Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA; *Corresponding author, E-mail: raman@mtu.edu 2 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA 3 Department of Geology and Geography, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790, USA 4 Department of Geology, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA 5 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA

Abstract: Purpose The prediction of pre-election polls is an issue of concern for both politicians and voters. The Taiwan nine-in-one election held in 2014 ended with jaw-dropping results; apparently, traditional polls did not work well. As a remedy to this problem, the purpose of this paper is to utilize the comments posted on social media to analyze civilians’ views on the two candidates for mayor of Taichung City, Chih-chiang Hu, and Chia-Lung Lin. Design/methodology/approach After conducting word segmentation and part-of-speech tagging for the collected reviews, this study constructs the opinion phrase extraction rules for identifying the opinion words associated with the attribute words. Next, this study classifies the attribute words into six municipal governance-related topics and calculates the opinion scores for each candidate. Finally, this study uses correspondence analysis to transform opinion information on the candidates into a graphical display to facilitate the interpretation of voters’ views. Findings The results show that the topics of candidates’ backgrounds and transport infrastructure were the two most critical factors for the election prediction. Based on the predication, Lin outscores Hu by 17.74 percent which is close to the real election results. Research limitations/implications This study proposes new rules for the extraction of Chinese opinion words associated with attribute words. Practical implications This study applies Chinese semantic analysis to assist in predicting election results and investigating the topics of concern to voters. Originality/value The proposed opinion phrase extraction rules for Chinese social media, as well as the election forecast process, can provide valuable references for political parties and candidates to plan better nomination and election strategies.

Abstract: The federal election of October 19, 2015 established a high water mark in the representation of racial diversity in Parliament with the election of 45 MPs with visible minority origins. Their relative presence jumped over four percentage points compared to the 2011 general election and their larger number markedly narrowed the population-based gap in representation. As an account of this improvement in the representation of visible minority MPs, the focus here is on aspects of the candidate nomination process, with an approach informed by the supposition that heightened competition among the three largest parties engendered a greater degree of vote-seeking among immigrant and minority communities.

Abstract: This article analyzes patterns of continuity and change in the presidential voting patterns of the American electorate, particularly as it relates to the role of religion in American presidential politics. Given American cultural values related to wanting their political leaders to be religious, it seeks to ascertain how Trump could, in light of these cultural values, still capture the Republican nomination and then defeat Clinton in the general election. So doing, this study seeks to address whether the election of Trump reflects a major shift in American electoral politics.

Abstract: In 2016, both the Republicans and Democrats experienced efforts at hostile takeover of their presidential campaigns. On the Republican side of the ledger, the takeover was successful and ultimately yielded the presidency of Donald Trump. The Democratic effort, by a candidate who never actually joined the party, was beaten back only after a long and bruising primary campaign. This Article examines some of the sources of weakness of contemporary political parties that leave them less able to control their internal party selection processes, and that further hamper their ability to govern effectively. The key insight is taken from a view of the political party as a firm, following the pioneering work of Ronald Coase, and then merges that onto the modern understanding of political parties as a precarious balance of the desires of the electoral faithful, the interests of the party apparatus, and the governance needs of the party’s elected officials. In effect, this paper joins the economic insights of Coase to the political analysis of V. O. Key. Historically, American political parties managed divergent interests by control over three critical political functions: access to campaign funding, delivery of patronage governmental positions, and control over the nomination process. Each of these functions has been compromised by legal reforms over the past century. With the inability to internalize control over critical organizational functions, the various constituencies of the modern political party have the choice to “buy not make,” in the language of modern firm economics. Over time, the external option has changed the dynamic of politics, as evident in the last presidential election. This Article does not offer a simply story of redemption through reform. The political party of old would strike modern sensibilities as insufficiently transparent and inclusive. But in the absence of the coordinating role of the party, politics becomes more atomized, rhetoric hardens, and governance becomes more complicated.

Abstract: When Donald Trump won the Republican nomination and subsequently beat Hillary Clinton in the presidential elections, his success came as a surprise to most observers. This research contributes to understanding the dynamics of this unusual campaign, in which social media played a prominent role. We collected 6099 tweets by both nominees during the presidential primaries and identified the 21 most frequently discussed issues through computer-assisted content analysis. Secondly, we used time series analysis to investigate whether the candidates influenced each other’s political agendas. Most tweets by the candidates were found not to be about policy but about parties, other politicians, and the media. Of the political issues that were discussed, the most prominent ones were employment, family, minorities and terrorism. For tweets about minorities, we found possible evidence of agenda setting. We conclude that social media are mainly being used to reach out to supporters, instead of interacting with the opponent.

Abstract: Inspired by critical discourse analysis and regarding language as a social medium whereby individuals, social groups, and institutions tend to express their beliefs and values, this study seeks to ...

Abstract: This research project analysed and compared the roles, resources and competencies of lay judges in Germany, France and Great Britain, where lay judges take up their role through nationally distinctive routes: nomination essentially by the social partners in Germany, self-nomination in Great Britain and election in France. The primary research consisted of qualitative data collected through interviews, set against contextual information on national institutional arrangements, industrial relations, This research project analysed and compared the roles, resources and competencies of lay judges in Germany, France and Great Britain, where lay judges take up their role through nationally distinctive routes: nomination essentially by the social partners in Germany, self-nomination in Great Britain and election in France. The primary research consisted of qualitative data collected through interviews, set against contextual information on national institutional arrangements, industrial relations, and court procedures. The key findings are as follows: • The dominant influence on lay judge’s reported perception of their role is their experience of the prevailing industrial relations system in each country, mediated by the labour court structure. Routes to nomination not only reflect national systems but may reinforce them and have a bearing on employee lay judges’ sense of organisational allegiance. • While acknowledging distinct employer and employee perspectives, there was an aspiration to be impartial and a commitment to fairness. This was most unambiguously expressed in Germany and Great Britain. In France, deliberations were sometimes reported as resembling a negotiation between employee and employer lay judges, but one that had to culminate in a legally correct judgment. Very few employee lay judge interviewees reported that they experienced enduring dissonance between sitting on the employee side in the court and their role as a lay judge, although this was noted by several at the outset. • Our interview findings from lay and professional judges indicated that lay judges bring distinctive knowledge. Some of this knowledge is explicit and often specific. Lay knowledge is often tacit, however, and acquired through long exposure to workplace events. Such knowledge was valued by many professional judge interviewees as adding an extra dimension to decision-making and was seen by near-ly all our interviewees as the main contribution of lay judges to the judicial process. Crucially tacit knowledge is a form of understanding that needs to be elicited in the process of deliberations, rather than as evidence provided by an expert witness. As well as bringing knowledge to the court, lay judges also reported that they could enhance their representational and personal-professional skills by transferring knowledge and experience acquired in court back to the work-place. • Gender played some role in the motivation to become a lay judge in Great Britain and in how lay judges assessed their contribution in Germany. Some female interviewees in Britain reported that work-place problems they had personally experienced had contributed to their motivation to become a lay judge. In Germany, there were some differences between men and women in their views of the nature of their contribution: whereas men tended to emphasise the specialist knowledge they could bring to bear in deliberations, women highlighted a ‘social perspective’.

Abstract: The Iowa Caucus has been the first chance for voters to voice their choice for president since 1976, and every 4 years since the nation’s attention has turned to Iowa in the months leading up to the election. The campaigning in Iowa starts early, very early, and voters are inundated with news coverage, political advertising, and candidate visits. The winners of the Iowa Caucus may not always win the nomination, but losing in Iowa can end a campaign. Given that Iowa voters have such an important role in the nomination process, this essay examines their exposure to political news and opinions of the candidates leading up to caucus night. A state-wide phone survey of 12,000 Iowans conducted in November 2015 and January 2016 reveal gender and political party differences in where Iowans get their political news, and related differences in the leadership, honesty, and compassion leading candidates were perceived to be by Iowa Caucus–goers.

Abstract: Objective Previous studies of presidential appointments have consistently found that presidents place their most competent appointees into agencies responsible for policy issues high on their agendas. We examine here whether public opinion responds accordingly. Method Using a survey with an embedded experimental manipulation, we examine whether members of the public, when given the backgrounds of fictional presidential appointees, are able to infer the president's policy priorities based on the perceived competence of the appointees. Results Results suggest that perceived policy importance is positively associated with perceptions of competence, and negatively associated with perceptions of favoritism or patronage—characterized here as the nomination of campaign fundraisers. Moreover, these same factors are associated with increased levels of support for the president's policy positions in the policy areas for which the nominees are responsible. Conclusions Our findings suggest presidential appointments can influence perceptions of—and support for—policy priorities.

Abstract: IntroductionThe selection of a new U.S. Supreme Court Justice was a central issue in the 2016 presidential election.1 Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly on February 13, 2016.2 President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland to succeed Scalia.3 The Republican-controlled Senate, however, refused to consider nominee Garland because Obama was in his last year as president.4 Although unprecedented and controversial,5 the Republican Senate leadership's decision is logical. In an appointment system with nomination and confirmation, the nominator controls the agenda. A different nominator will present different options to the confirming body. The country saw this play out. President Donald Trump's eventual nominee, Tenth Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch, had a much different judicial record than Garland.6Any process of selection will inevitably have an impact on who is selected.7 The fifty-two judicial systems in the United States use a wide variety of processes to choose their principal judges.8 The federal judicial system uses two methods of selection: the familiar Article III presidential nomination and Senate confirmation process,9 and the less familiar Article I administrative process.10 Each state has a distinct selection process for its judicial system.11 A state judge may first gain a seat through election (nonpartisan or partisan), appointment by an elected branch (governor and/or legislature), or recommendation by a merit commission. Because few state judges enjoy life tenure, most face some form of election, either a retention election (with an up-or-down vote) or a contested election, to keep their seats.12Judicial selection's effects extend beyond who is chosen to who even considers becoming a candidate. Federal judges and judicial nominees have complained of the discouraging effects of the slow and sometimes demeaning gauntlet to confirmation.13 They may drop out or not even make themselves available as a prospective nominee. State judges often face elections to be selected for, or at least to retain, a seat. State judges express concern that the path to the bench via the ballot box dissuades promising candidates, especially women and minorities, from seeking judicial office and has negative effects on those that do.14The work of courts as well as the public's view of courts and their legitimacy are affected by who serves. The idea that judicial decisions and their reception are affected by the identity of the person making the decision is entirely intuitive and empirically well established.15 Thus, we need to know the demographics of the bench to understand the dynamics of the judicial process, to evaluate the means of choosing judges, and to analyze the role of the judiciary in the larger political system.16 Judicial biographies are important.The U.S. Supreme Court is undoubtedly the most visible and well-known court in America. Countless scholarly and popular works have been published on the Court and the individual Justices who have served on it.17 We can read colorful and extensive stories about their lives: their upbringing, common or idiosyncratic habits, changing worldviews, and life-altering experiences.18 We can access detailed databases of their backgrounds, attributes, and work.19 We can even track down the gravesite for each Justice (only the dead ones, of course).20 Even the relatively unimportant Justices have received lavish attention.21 Supreme Court Justices' lives lay open for us. Yet, the Supreme Court, while important, has limited reach. The Court decides fewer than one hundred cases per year.22 Moreover, it addresses only questions of federal law. While we often hear a person say that she will take her case "all the way to the Supreme Court," the reality is that the Justices decide few cases and only a subset of legal issues.Although the Supreme Court is the top of the federal judicial hierarchy, lower federal courts are the final word for nearly every dispute. …

Abstract: Introduction The mass media force attention to certain issues. They build up public images of political figures. They are constantly presenting objects suggesting what individuals in the mass should think about, know about, and have feelings about. (Shaw & Martin, 1992, p. 919) The quotation above is nothing new for Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the last U.S. presidential elections. Hillary Clinton has been the subject of the enormous media interest for decades. Criticism and ridicule of Rodham Clinton dates back to when her husband, Bill Clinton, ran for the office in 1992 and when she was subject of media criticism as a First Lady who refused to be a supporting wife only, and has made a choice to keep active in her career instead. Nevertheless, she was a leader of the Health Care Reform and this instigated criticism of the media (Burden & Mughan, 1999). This happened because, "first ladies were to be seen at social galas and by their husbands' sides, not heard in policy debates" (Troy, 1997, p. 7), and scholars argued that, "the public nature of Hillary's activities makes her a focal point for thinking and talking about gender norms" (Burden & Mughan, 1999, p. 240). More than 20 years later, not much has changed as Hillary Clinton is still scrutinised by the media. However, while in the past Hillary has been criticised by the media for refusal to fit into expected role of a supportive wife only, newer research has supported that Hillary Clinton and her political career have been discussed within feminism debate (Sisco & Lucas, 2015). This has happened when she ran for Democratic nomination against Barack Obama, and recently when she was a Democratic nominee for the U.S. presidential elections in 2016. During those two campaigns, Hillary Clinton has been portrayed as a second wave feminist seeking equality in appointments to political positions, which was then negatively framed by the media as opposed to the so-called new feminism that places more emphasis on choice and social justice, as well as pro-choice feminism (Sisco & Lucas, 2015). The feminism that advocates justice as portrayed by the media actually goes in line with radical feminism that focuses predominantly on social divisions among women rather than on quests for women's inclusion in politics (Segal, 2010). It therefore seems as if the media are applying a mixture of pro-choice feminism and social feminism to undermine liberal, second wave feminism that was looking, among other issues, to achieve equality of women with men in their efforts towards gaining political appointments. In this paper we, therefore, discuss Hillary Clinton's relations with the media using her latest presidential campaign as a case study for the research. We focus on analysing how feminism has been used to represent Clinton and her campaign in two major press outlets, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Drawing from the literature review discussing her position as a US First Lady and other political efforts preceding the last presidential elections, we are arguing that the US media systematically undermine female politicians by using variety of discourses. The idea for the paper derived from Martina's long interest in Hillary Clinton that started in 2006 during her studies at the University of Amsterdam where she has first encountered feminist media work with case studies of Hillary Clinton as a First Lady and the media treatment of her work. After joining academia in 2007, Martina analysed how Barack Obama won nomination of the Democratic Party when he was running for the office for the first time (Topic, 2009). Naturally, when Hillary announced she will be competing for the nomination again, this triggered Martina's interest and she has carefully followed the campaign to see whether a central goal of liberal feminism will finally be completed with Americans electing women to the Office. …

Abstract: The European Parliament which is the only democratic EU institution, being elected by direct universal suffrage, has gained much influence over EU legislation, the EU budget and the nomination process of the President of the European Commission. Yet a closer look at the European Parliament’s electoral arrangements shows that European citizens are not equally represented. There is still no uniform process of electing MEPs apart from some common complex system of proportional representation. Paradoxically, the more powers the European Parliament has gained, the fewer European citizens have turned up to vote. Naturally, they tend to cast their votes on national political considerations rather than on European issues. Developing an educational approach could allow for better informed citizens. Part of the problem lies in the composition of the European Parliament where left-wing political groups favourable to more political and social European integration are on the decline while small far-right groups have emerged, reflecting the Eurosceptic climate prevailing in Europe.

Abstract: New technologies have led to several major advances in psychological research over the past few decades. Peer nomination research is no exception. Thanks to these technological innovations, computerized data collection is becoming more common in peer nomination research. However, computer-based assessment is more than simply programming the questionnaire and asking respondents to fill it in on computers. In this chapter the advantages and challenges of computer-based assessments are discussed. In addition, a list of practical recommendations and considerations is provided to inform researchers on how computer-based methods can be applied to their own research. Although the focus is on the collection of peer nomination data in particular, many of the requirements, considerations, and implications are also relevant for those who consider the use of other sociometric assessment methods (e.g., paired comparisons, peer ratings, peer rankings) or computer-based assessments in general.

Abstract: The victory of Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election was a victory for a new form of US political conservatism that emphasized both social and economic issues. Abortion was paramount amon...

Abstract: Donald Trump would most likely not be President but for the institutional change made in the 1970s, and analyzed here, in the nature of the presidential nomination process. In the 1970s, the United States shifted almost overnight from the methods that had been used for nearly 200 years to select party nominees, in which official representatives of the political parties played the major role in deciding the parties’ candidates for President, to a purely populist mode (primaries and caucuses) for selecting presidential nominees. This article explores the contrast between nomination processes that entail a central role for “peer review” – in which party leaders have a central voice in the selection of their parties’ nominees – and purely populist selection methods, such as currently used in the United States, in which ordinary voters completely control the selection of nominees and party figures have no special role. The first half of the article is historical and focuses on the United States. The second half is comparative and explores how other major democracies structure the process of choosing party leaders and candidates for chief executive. In the historical sections, we seek to show both how radical the change was that was made in the 1970s and yet how accidental, contingent, and inadvertent this transformation was. The “framers” of these changes did not actually intend to create the system with which we ended up, in which the primaries and caucuses completely determine the parties’ nominees. The comparative sections show that the U.S. system is an extreme outlier among major democracies: in no other democracy is the selection completely controlled by the mass of ordinary voters. Most other democracies use systems of pure peer review to select candidates for chief executive; or use systems that mix elements of peer review with popular participation; and in other ways continue to give official representatives of the parties much greater say than in the United States over the selection of the parties’ nominees for Chief Executive. The institutional design through which democracies choose nominees who compete to become a nation’s Chief Executive is among the most consequential features in the design of democratic elections. Yet there is surprisingly little scholarship that explores this issue in detail. This article also contributes to the general analysis of the rise of populist politics in many democracies today by showing how the institutional design for how party nominees are chosen can enable or constrain how easily and quickly populist political forces are able to capture control of government.

Abstract: This paper looks at the television ad campaign for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 democratic nomination and specifically why children figure so predominantly in her television presence from April 2015 to February 2016 Focusing mainly on the early campaign for the democratic nomination rather than the actual presidency, it is clear that children appear significantly more often in Clinton’s ads than in those of her opponent, Bernie Sanders This paper argues that the difference here is due mainly to gender, specifically America’s perceptions of female gender roles and the predominantly male attributes associated with power Children, in Clinton’s 2016 campaign, therefore act as a way to associate Clinton with a traditionally more feminine sphere of power through motherhood, placing her in the position of nurturer for the USA through the presidency and consolidating her roles as both a woman and political leader