The primary election is a distinctly American phenomenon. As noted by Maurice Duverger in 1954 and Leon Epstein in 1967, the primary election proved fatal to the establishment of mass parties in the United States since it removed from parties even the power to select their own candidates—considered a fundamental party function in most general works on political parties. Thus, the American practice of selecting party candidates at all levels in a popular election of party supporters (in the very loosest sense of the term) has had profound effects on American party development and on the American system of government. In fact, probably even more than the separation of powers, the primary election is the most unique and, to foreign observers, inexplicable element of the American political system.

Origins of the Primary

The term "primary" appeared during the nineteenth century to signify the process of candidate selection in the...