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Closed Primary, Exposed Preferences: Idaho's Primary System And The Bureaucratic Dilemma, Matthew Ryan May

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The ability to elect representatives is one of the most fundamental rights citizens of the United States of America possess, but the expression of that right looks very different from state to state. A state’s primary system determines not only who participates in an election, but under what circumstances. When a state shifts from one primary system to another, it produces a period of uncertainty, as the electorate must acclimate to new rules and their attendant consequences. Among those who must adjust to the new rules are public state employees—the bureaucracy. When a shift necessitates and introduces a partisan …