Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management. She is a public sector scholar with wide experience in government, academia, and politics. Kamarck is an expert on government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD countries, and developing countries. In addition, she focuses her research on the presidential nomination system and American politics and has worked in many American presidential campaigns.

• ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. The Good Old Days? When Parties Controlled Nominations and Primaries Were to Be Avoided at All Costs2. Sequence as Strategy: How Jimmy Carter “Got It” and Taught Subsequent Presidential Candidates the New Rules of the Road3. The Fight to Be First: Why Iowa and New Hampshire DominatePresidential Nominating Politics4. Proportional Representation: Why Democrats Use It and Republicans Don't5. Devil in the Details: How the Delegate Count Shapes Modern Nominating Campaigns6. Do Conventions Matter Anymore? Why No One Could Stop Trump7. The Loss of Peer ReviewNotesIndex

With her updated title Primary Politics, Elaine Kamarck has provided an indispensable guide to the U.S. system of selecting our presidential candidates. This book explains the evolution of our primary system, the effect it has on presidential candidates, and vice versa. Primary Politics is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how our presidential candidates reach the general election."- Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001)

Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management. She is a public sector scholar with wide experience in government, academia, and politics. Kamarck is an expert on government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD countries, and developing countries. In addition, she focuses her research on the presidential nomination system and American politics and has worked in many American presidential campaigns.

• ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. The Good Old Days? When Parties Controlled Nominations and Primaries Were to Be Avoided at All Costs2. Sequence as Strategy: How Jimmy Carter “Got It” and Taught Subsequent Presidential Candidates the New Rules of the Road3. The Fight to Be First: Why Iowa and New Hampshire DominatePresidential Nominating Politics4. Proportional Representation: Why Democrats Use It and Republicans Don't5. Devil in the Details: How the Delegate Count Shapes Modern Nominating Campaigns6. Do Conventions Matter Anymore? Why No One Could Stop Trump7. The Loss of Peer ReviewNotesIndex

With her updated title Primary Politics, Elaine Kamarck has provided an indispensable guide to the U.S. system of selecting our presidential candidates. This book explains the evolution of our primary system, the effect it has on presidential candidates, and vice versa. Primary Politics is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how our presidential candidates reach the general election."- Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001)

Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management. She is a public sector scholar with wide experience in government, academia, and politics. Kamarck is an expert on government innovation and reform in the United States, OECD countries, and developing countries. In addition, she focuses her research on the presidential nomination system and American politics and has worked in many American presidential campaigns.

• ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. The Good Old Days? When Parties Controlled Nominations and Primaries Were to Be Avoided at All Costs2. Sequence as Strategy: How Jimmy Carter “Got It” and Taught Subsequent Presidential Candidates the New Rules of the Road3. The Fight to Be First: Why Iowa and New Hampshire DominatePresidential Nominating Politics4. Proportional Representation: Why Democrats Use It and Republicans Don't5. Devil in the Details: How the Delegate Count Shapes Modern Nominating Campaigns6. Do Conventions Matter Anymore? Why No One Could Stop Trump7. The Loss of Peer ReviewNotesIndex

With her updated title Primary Politics, Elaine Kamarck has provided an indispensable guide to the U.S. system of selecting our presidential candidates. This book explains the evolution of our primary system, the effect it has on presidential candidates, and vice versa. Primary Politics is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how our presidential candidates reach the general election."- Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001)