The Democratic Party's contest for the 2008 presidential nominee went on longer and divided the party more deeply than any other such contest in recent history. By contrast, the Republican Party's nomination race was relatively quick and did not generate deep fissures within the party. This research will shed light on the nature of modern political parties. The party is not the formal hierarchy it may have been a century ago, in which bosses could dictate the choice of nominee to the rank and file with little expectation of resistance. Today's parties are better thought of as networks of formal party groups, interest groups, and donors. It is these networks that allow parties to manage a crisis, such as an intraparty rift during a competitive election.
The researchers will investigate these intraparty rifts and the role of social networks as part of the effort to heal them by conducting interviews of delegates to both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in August and September of 2008. Respondents will asked their opinions about the major candidates for the presidential nominations, their previous involvement in party activities, their membership in various interest groups, and their cultural beliefs about the importance of intraparty democracy. Respondents will be contacted for follow-up interviews in the late fall to determine the effect of fall campaigns on intraparty factionalism. The researchers will test the hypotheses that involvement in expanded party networks (including interest groups and party posts) mitigates this factionalism and that participation in such networks promotes loyalty to party rather than to a specific candidate.
This research will have broader impacts on the way this presidential election season is understood by political observers. Rather than making assumptions about the fractious nature of the primary season and its effect on the general election, journalists and other observers will be able to draw upon our this research for concrete measurements and qualitative assessments of these rifts. Additionally, this research will also involve the use of graduate and undergraduate students at multiple institutions as survey administrators. These students will receive specialized training that will enrich their academic experiences.
