Patrick Kenney and Tom Rice’s article explores the effect of primary elections on the general presidential elections. Kenney and Rice attempt to determine whether supporters of losing primary candidates refrain from voting for their party in the general election. In order to better understand this concept of divisive primaries, it is imperative to know its definition. Webster defines divisive as: Creating, or tending to create, division, separation, or difference. However, I feel that divisiveness arises out of the need to superior and The topic of voter turnout and primary significance has been a long running question. According to Kenney and Rice the primary campaign is a struggle between groups, fighting for a “scarce resource,” the nomination. As research has shown, supporters of a losing candidate have been shown to retain bitterness towards the winning side of a primary. Our authors also mention the introduction of in-group loyalties, and out-group hostilities, which affect a voter’s attitude. The in-group loyalties tend to be formed because of the length of primary elections, thus voters feel very strong and passionate about their candidate, and because the stakes are greater. The out-group hostilities are formed for the same reasons. In general, the longer the campaigns the stronger the in-group and out-group feelings are.With the definition of divisive primaries being known, we can now determine whether they are beneficial, or not beneficial to the general presidential elections. Kenney and Rice analyze the effect of divisive primaries on the Democratic general election vote. They have broken down the impact of the primaries into five factors, which contribute to the end result of the general election. First, the traditional patterns of a state need to be considered. Second, control is necessary to tap the influence of minor-party movements on the Democratic percentage of the vote. Thir...
