The Politics of the Top-two Primary: Ideology Against Accountability

• In Event: Politics of the Primary: How Electoral Institutions Affect Voters and Candidates

Abstract

In top-two primary systems, voters are faced with choices between same-party candidates. We argue that when candidates share the same party, voters are forced to choose based on other criteria. Two of these criteria include ideological positions against the voters’ perceptions of candidate quality or whether the candidates have previously been accountable to the voters. We find that perceptions of high accountability from candidates affects vote choices. We also analyze data on representational decisions of candidates and legislators.

Authors

• Christian R. Grose, University of Southern California

• John Andrew Sinclair, Claremont McKenna College