Thursday, August 6, 2015

Important book makes strong case for the importance of the caucus in not just Iowa, but also Colorado and the other caucus states.

Why Iowa?: How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating ProcessWhy Iowa?: How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process by David P. Redlawsk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Extraordinarily well researched by political science professors at three universities, not a light read but vitally important in the debate about the value of the grassroots institution, what some see as the full flowering of what the founders of the country had in mind.

Makes a suggestion no on has picked up on, not mentioned in any of the reviews or interviews about the book that I have seen, it deserves to be widely discussed.

The suggestion is to have a caucus period at the beginning of the election season and then a national primary with the rest of the states.

Not an easy read because of it being crammed with important facts, but that is part of the appeal. This is solid research well presented, something that has never been produced by those who would kill the caucus. This follows on the heals of another that the authors credit, Grassroots Rules, Standford University Press which is equally enthusiastic about the caucus assembly system after taking a close look.

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