Voting at the Political Fault Line: California's Experiment with the Blanket Primary

California's adoption of the blanket primary in 1996 presented a unique natural experiment on the impact that the election rules have on politics. Billed as a measure that would increase voter participation and end idealogical polarization, Proposition 198 placed Calfornia voters once again on the frontier of political reform. Employing a variety of data sources and methodologies, the contributiors to voting at the Political Fault Line apply their wide-ranging expertise to understand how this change in political institutions affected electoral behaviour and outcomes. This authoriatative study analyzes the consequences of California's experiment with the blanket primary, including the incidence of, motivations behind, and persistence of crossover voting; the behaviour of candidates and donors; the effects on candidate positions and party platforms; and the consequences for women, minorities, and minor-party candidates.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables List of Figures Part One: Introduction and Background 1. California's Blanket Primary Experiment Bruce E. Cain and Elisabeth R. Gerber 2. Crossover Voting before the Blanket: Primaries versus Parties in California History Brian J. Gaines and Wendy K. Tam Cho 3. Political Reform via the Initiative Process: What Voters Think about When They Change the Rules Shaun Bowler and Todd Donovan 4. Context and Setting: The Mood of the California Electorate Mark Baldassare Part Two: Crossover Voting 5. The Causes and Consequences of Crossover Voting in the 1998 California Elections John Sides, Jonathan Cohen, and Jack Citrin 6. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Sincere and Strategic Crossover Voting in California Assembly Races R. Michael Alvarez and Jonathan Nagler 7. Peeking Under the Blanket: A Direct Look at Crossover Voting in the 1998 Primary Anthony M. Salvanto and Martin P. Wattenberg Part Three: Effects of the Blanket Primary 8. Crossing Over When It Counts: How the Motives of Voters in Blanket Primaries Are Revealed by Their Actions in General Elections Thad Kousser 9. Candidates, Donors, and Voters in California's Blanket Primary Elections Wendy K. Tam Cho and Brian J. Gaines 10. Strategic Voting and Candidate Policy Positions Elisabeth R. Gerber 11. Openness Begets Opportunity: Minor Parties and California's Blanket Primary Christian Collet 12. Thinner Ranks: Women as Candidates and California's Blanket Primary Miki Caul and Katherine Tate 13. Targets of Opportunity: California's Blanket Primary and the Political Representation of Latinos Gary M. Segura and Nathan D. Woods 14. Candidate Strategy, Voter Response, and Party Cohesion John R. Petrocik Part Four: Conclusions and Implications 15. The Blanket Primary in the Courts: The Precedent and Implications of California Democratic Party v. Jones Nathaniel Persily 16. Strategies and Rules: Lessons from the 2000 Presidential Primary Bruce E. Cain and Megan Mullin List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Bruce E. Cain is Robson Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, and Director, Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of The Reapportionment Puzzle (California, 1984) and coauthor of The Personal Vote (1987) and Congressional Redistricting (1992). Elisabeth R. Gerber is Professor of Public Policy and Director of the State and Local Policy Center, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan. She is the author of The Populist Paradox: Interest Group Influence and the Promise of Direct Legislation (1999) and coauthor of Stealing the Initiative: How State Government Responds to Direct Democracy (2000).

Review :
"This is the most important and impressive collection of original research available on California's blanket primary. Its discussion of open primaries and crossover voting raises provocative issues which loom large. The findings are impressive." - Max Neiman, author of Defending Government: Why Big Government Works "Cain and Gerber have assembled a stellar cast of scholars to consider the impact of the blanket primary and important electoral change in California's politics. This is a very important book for anybody who wants to understand how institutions shape political incentives." - Bernard Grofman, author of Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality "Cain and Gerber's Voting at the Political Fault Line is an intelligent compilation of work and assessments of the rumblings that followed and the longer-term consequences that are likely to be debated over the nature of primary elections. Its no-nonsense style and reliance on sophisticated empirical analysis highlight some counterintuitive results and illustrate highly creative applications of social science methods." - Max Neiman, author of Defending Government: Why Big Government Works