It's an article of faith, imbued in us from childhood, that democracy is the best form of government. Many people are cynical or skeptical, if not contemptuous, of any form of government. Much political controversy today is over the role of government, what it can or cannot do, and what it should or should not do.
If there is one thing on which citizens of all persuasions can agree regarding democracy and government, it's that democracy is not simple; it can be messy. Barring politically-imposed difficulties of registration, it is simple enough to enter the poll booth and cast a ballot. But as the 2016 presidential primaries have shown, the process of nominating the presidential candidates is anything but simple. Even the ostensibly well-informed media stars had much to learn as the nominating process progressed.
If people really believe that states know best, and believe in local control, the process probably cannot and should not be made "simpler" in the form of a similar "cookie cutter" approach for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and American territories. But that's up to the political parties. While candidates have to abide by state election laws, political parties, as private entities, are free to engage in their own selection process.
Both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee decide on the number of delegates to their respective national conventions, and apportion them among the states, territories and the District of Columbia. They establish the rules for their national conventions. But they give wide latitude to states and territories on contest type, rules for selection of delegates and their respective options. Normally, this is just one big black box to the vast majority of voters. But this year, the numerous systems and their complexities became apparent for the first time to many voters, and to the mainstream media gurus as well.
Twelve states and five U.S. territories allocate their delegates on the basis of a caucus of party members, this in contrast to primary elections. But there, all similarities end. The variations in allocation method, qualifying thresholds, types of delegates, and rules binding the delegates to specific candidates vary in a myriad of ways.
For starters, even the Democratic and Republican caucuses operate differently, much to the chagrin of media stars who cherish economy of thought.
The rules for primary elections differ among states. Some states, including Wisconsin, hold open primaries. Voters do not have to register as a party member. Both slates of candidates are on the same ballot and the voter can vote on either the Republican or the Democratic slate, but not both.
In some states, voters have to declare in advance their party preference. Some of Donald Trump's New York family members were famously disqualified from voting because they had not registered as Republicans by the required date.
Although primary voters cast their votes for a specific candidate, except for Pennsylvania where they vote directly for delegates, there follows the process of selection of delegates. Under the Republican system, state parties use several different methods of allocating its delegates. These include proportional, winner-take-all, and hybrid systems combining different allocation methods. Within each of these systems, there are variations in the number of ballots for which a delegate is bound to a specific candidate in case of a contested convention.
The Wisconsin Republican system is of the hybrid variety. This is a combination winner-take-all by Congressional district (24 delegates) and 18 "at large" delegates. Sen. Ted Cruz won a total of 36 delegates and Donald Trump a total of six delegates, the latter as a result of winning in two of Wisconsin's eight Congressional districts.
Wisconsin's Republican delegates can change their votes at the nominating convention only if the candidate who won the district or state releases them, or if the candidate they are representing does not receive a third of the votes cast on the convention floor. This is in contrast to many states that bind their delegates only to the first or second vote.
There is less variation across states under the Democratic system as the DNC requires states to proportionally allocate delegates, with a standard qualifying threshold of 15 percent. However, there is greater variation in the types of delegates. In addition to delegates allocated on the basis of the primary election or caucus, Democratic delegates include PLEO (Party Leaders Elected Officials) delegates and super delegates.
PLEO delegates, big city mayors and state legislators, are pledged to presidential candidates based on primaries or caucuses.
Super delegates, by rule of the DNC, include Democratic members of congress, current or former governors and current and former party officials. These delegates are unpledged and have maximum flexibility, but customarily go with national winners of pledged delegates.
Wisconsin has a total of 96 Democratic delegates; 57 pledged proportionally by its eight congressional districts, and 29 pledged delegates based on the primary statewide vote. These 29 consist of 10 pledged PLEOs and 19 at-large delegates. The remaining 10 delegates are the unpledged super delegates including Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin's three Democratic Congressional representatives, and six National Committee members.
The Wisconsin primary election resulted in Bernie Sanders receiving 48 and Hillary Clinton receiving 38 of the pledged delegates.
At this point, Clinton and Trump are the presumptive nominees, and the complexities of a brokered convention will not occur, much to the disappointment of the ratings and profit-conscious media. But the complexities of the system have become apparent. As Cruz began making inroads on delegates pledged to Trump, but free to change if the convention went beyond the first ballot, objections and controversy over existing rules became apparent. The possibilities of delegates voting in ways ultimately contrary to popular votes raised questions that had not been raised in many years.
Issues regarding delegates have similarly been raised within the Democratic Party as well.
Contentious internal issues will be faced by both political parties as they chart their futures.
- John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
If there is one thing on which citizens of all persuasions can agree regarding democracy and government, it's that democracy is not simple; it can be messy. Barring politically-imposed difficulties of registration, it is simple enough to enter the poll booth and cast a ballot. But as the 2016 presidential primaries have shown, the process of nominating the presidential candidates is anything but simple. Even the ostensibly well-informed media stars had much to learn as the nominating process progressed.
If people really believe that states know best, and believe in local control, the process probably cannot and should not be made "simpler" in the form of a similar "cookie cutter" approach for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and American territories. But that's up to the political parties. While candidates have to abide by state election laws, political parties, as private entities, are free to engage in their own selection process.
Both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee decide on the number of delegates to their respective national conventions, and apportion them among the states, territories and the District of Columbia. They establish the rules for their national conventions. But they give wide latitude to states and territories on contest type, rules for selection of delegates and their respective options. Normally, this is just one big black box to the vast majority of voters. But this year, the numerous systems and their complexities became apparent for the first time to many voters, and to the mainstream media gurus as well.
Twelve states and five U.S. territories allocate their delegates on the basis of a caucus of party members, this in contrast to primary elections. But there, all similarities end. The variations in allocation method, qualifying thresholds, types of delegates, and rules binding the delegates to specific candidates vary in a myriad of ways.
For starters, even the Democratic and Republican caucuses operate differently, much to the chagrin of media stars who cherish economy of thought.
The rules for primary elections differ among states. Some states, including Wisconsin, hold open primaries. Voters do not have to register as a party member. Both slates of candidates are on the same ballot and the voter can vote on either the Republican or the Democratic slate, but not both.
In some states, voters have to declare in advance their party preference. Some of Donald Trump's New York family members were famously disqualified from voting because they had not registered as Republicans by the required date.
Although primary voters cast their votes for a specific candidate, except for Pennsylvania where they vote directly for delegates, there follows the process of selection of delegates. Under the Republican system, state parties use several different methods of allocating its delegates. These include proportional, winner-take-all, and hybrid systems combining different allocation methods. Within each of these systems, there are variations in the number of ballots for which a delegate is bound to a specific candidate in case of a contested convention.
The Wisconsin Republican system is of the hybrid variety. This is a combination winner-take-all by Congressional district (24 delegates) and 18 "at large" delegates. Sen. Ted Cruz won a total of 36 delegates and Donald Trump a total of six delegates, the latter as a result of winning in two of Wisconsin's eight Congressional districts.
Wisconsin's Republican delegates can change their votes at the nominating convention only if the candidate who won the district or state releases them, or if the candidate they are representing does not receive a third of the votes cast on the convention floor. This is in contrast to many states that bind their delegates only to the first or second vote.
There is less variation across states under the Democratic system as the DNC requires states to proportionally allocate delegates, with a standard qualifying threshold of 15 percent. However, there is greater variation in the types of delegates. In addition to delegates allocated on the basis of the primary election or caucus, Democratic delegates include PLEO (Party Leaders Elected Officials) delegates and super delegates.
PLEO delegates, big city mayors and state legislators, are pledged to presidential candidates based on primaries or caucuses.
Super delegates, by rule of the DNC, include Democratic members of congress, current or former governors and current and former party officials. These delegates are unpledged and have maximum flexibility, but customarily go with national winners of pledged delegates.
Wisconsin has a total of 96 Democratic delegates; 57 pledged proportionally by its eight congressional districts, and 29 pledged delegates based on the primary statewide vote. These 29 consist of 10 pledged PLEOs and 19 at-large delegates. The remaining 10 delegates are the unpledged super delegates including Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin's three Democratic Congressional representatives, and six National Committee members.
The Wisconsin primary election resulted in Bernie Sanders receiving 48 and Hillary Clinton receiving 38 of the pledged delegates.
At this point, Clinton and Trump are the presumptive nominees, and the complexities of a brokered convention will not occur, much to the disappointment of the ratings and profit-conscious media. But the complexities of the system have become apparent. As Cruz began making inroads on delegates pledged to Trump, but free to change if the convention went beyond the first ballot, objections and controversy over existing rules became apparent. The possibilities of delegates voting in ways ultimately contrary to popular votes raised questions that had not been raised in many years.
Issues regarding delegates have similarly been raised within the Democratic Party as well.
Contentious internal issues will be faced by both political parties as they chart their futures.
- John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
