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Primary Elections and Candidate Ideology

Out of Step with the Primary Electorate

Bibliographic Data

ID6300629
AuthorsD Brady (0000-0002-4059-3272, Stanford University), David W Brady, Hahrie Han (0000-0002-5259-8943, Wellesley College), John Collins Pope (0000-0002-4045-1354, Brigham Young University), Jeremy C Pope
Year2007
Volume32
Issue1
Pages79-105
Publication date2007-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLegislative Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0362-9805 • E-ISSN: 1939-9162
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3162/036298007x201994
OpenAlexW1989827237
LanguageEN
Citations received162
References cited46

This article draws on a new dataset of House primary‐ and general‐election outcomes (1956–98) to examine the relationship between primary elections and candidate ideology. We show that, like presidential candidates, congressional candidates face a strategic‐positioning dilemma: should they align themselves with their general‐ or primary‐election constituencies? Relative to general‐election voters, primary voters favor more ideologically extreme candidates. We show that congressional candidates handle the dilemma by positioning themselves closer to the primary electorate. This article thus supports the idea that primaries pull candidates away from median district preferences

Dilemma · Epistemology · Face (sociological concept · General election · Ideology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidential election · Presidential system · Primary (astronomy · Primary election · Social science · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Politics and Society in Latin America

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Unique citing works162
Citations per year8,1
Citation span2006 - 2026 (21)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedYes
Citation typesNeutral: 162

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