Progressive Era Primaries: How Direct Voting Curbed Big Business Influence

During the Progressive Era, which lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s, a movement arose in the United States to reduce the influence that corporations and monopolies had over government. One of the key ways reformers sought to reduce the influence of businesses on government was by limiting political parties through the use of primaries.

What Is a Primary Election?

A primary is a voting mechanism for selecting party nominees to compete in the general election. Primaries disallow the nomination of candidates by party leaders alone and are a more democratic process of voting. In a primary, voters directly choose from among several candidates to select their party's nominee for the general election.

Before primaries, nominations of candidates for the general election were chosen by a legislative caucus, which led to state party conventions. When the Progressive Era arrived, various primaries were implemented.

Types of Primaries

• Open primaries: Voters decide which party's primary they will participate in.
• Closed primaries: Only voters registered with a party are allowed to participate in that party's primary. There are slight variations of these across states.
• Blanket primaries: A voter is allowed to vote for candidates of both parties in a single election. Blanket primaries were used after the passing of legislation in 2003.
• Nonpartisan primaries: A single primary in which voters choose from among all candidates regardless of party affiliation. This type is found only in Louisiana.

Through these primaries, the influence of big business became much more limited.

Why Primaries Mattered

The main purpose of the primary was to limit the influence that businesses and large corporations had over governments by stopping their influence from the start. Political parties' campaign funds came from donations from large businesses, and candidates were then obligated to do what was in the best interest of those businesses, rather than in the best interest of the public. This led to a corrupt legislative body controlled by monopolies and other big businesses. The primary took the nominating of candidates out of the hands of political parties, and thus out of the hands of big business, and placed it in the hands of voters.

The primary was one of the steps in the progressive movement to end corruption within US government due to big business and allowed a more democratic manner to nominate candidates for office.

Review Questions

1. Powers that are not expressly granted by the Constitution but are inferred from enumerated powers: Implied powers
2. Reasons for migration from the Frostbelt to the Sunbelt: Employment, lower taxes
3. One disadvantage of a federal system of government: Overlapping or duplication; states can hold up national initiatives
4. Term describing the ability of government to respond effectively to change, make decisions efficiently and responsively, and manage conflict: Capacity
5. A system of government in which all power is derived from a central authority: Unitary system
6. Chief Justice John Marshall relied heavily upon a specific clause in the Constitution even though the Constitution does not expressly grant such a right. What is the name of this clause? Elastic Clause
7. The compact theory of federalism sees the Constitution as an agreement among states.
8. Name for the kind of system where political power is shared between a central government and a specified number of geographically defined regional jurisdictions: Federalism
9. Name given to those powers granted by the Constitution to both national and state governments: Concurrent powers
10. Name one effect on a state's capacity that results from a decline in its population.
11. Name one effect on a state's capacity that results from a decline in its population.
12. Political conflicts that emerge from deeply held moral values are commonly known as culture wars.
13. In a confederacy, are the individual parts (states, provinces, territories, etc.) stronger or weaker than the central or national government? Stronger
14. In 1783, the 13 newly independent states governed themselves under the Articles of Confederation.
15. Name 2 advantages associated with a federal system of government.
16. Amendment to the US Constitution that reserved powers to the states: Tenth Amendment
17. In recent years, states and local governments, rather than simply responding to various demands placed upon them in a reactive fashion, have been much more anticipating these demands.
18. What are those monies called which are set aside when a state's finances are healthy for use when state revenues decline? Rainy day funds
19. What was the name of the rebellion which helped propel the 13 newly independent states to seek a stronger union in 1787? Shays' Rebellion
20. What is the name for the clause in the Constitution which makes national laws superior to state laws? Supremacy Clause
21. The clause in the US Constitution which gives Congress the power to regulate trade with foreign countries and among the states is known as the Commerce clause.
22. Categorical grants for specific projects or formula grants for broad areas of policy: Block grants
23. Amendment to the US Constitution resulted in states being incorporated under the Constitution's Bill of Rights: Fourteenth Amendment
24. Name for the type of federalism which emerged in the 1930s and was characterized by all levels of government (national, state, and local) jointly working together in various policy manners: Cooperative federalism
25. Term used to describe a requirement that a state or local government undertake a specific activity or provide a particular service as a condition of funding: Mandate
26. Name for those kinds of grants which can be used in a broad functional area of jurisdiction: Block grants