The impact of low turnout primaries on state policies

We discussed this in 2305 today. Few voters - generally 5% - 10% of the population - vote in primary elections, which means that the candidate in general elections are selected by the more ideologically polarized elements in each party. There's no moderate primary. Well before each election, members of Congress and state legislatures have to prep themselves for the next primary by voting in a way that will not only make likely primary voters happy, but will reduce the likelyhood that a more ideologically polarized candidate will challenge them.

The electoral system fosters extremist politics.

Here's an example from Kansas:

Until World War I, the state was a hotbed of radicalism: it produced figures such as John Brown and Mary Lease, and was a major base of operations for the Populist and Socialist movements. Then, for eighty years, the state went quiet, becoming a watchword for everything middling and dull in American politics. It is only since the 1990s that Kansas has become associated with a long row of reactionary ideas, leading many commentators to argue that the state took an abrupt right turn. In fact, exactly the opposite is the case: Kansas is terminally moderate. What’s troubling about the case of Kansas is that conservatives have framed all their ideas in the blandest common sense discourse, while their opponents have rarely been capable of responding with anything more vigorous than polite disagreement. The result threatens to undermine the very existence of the state.

The fact is, the conservative faction in Kansas is relatively weak. Though Kansans vote overwhelmingly Republican, there are seventeen states where a higher proportion of residents self-identify as “conservative.” Because most Kansans will vote Republican most of the time, but most Kansans do not identify themselves as conservatives, the results of low-turnout primary elections can lead to dramatic political swings. The protracted contest over evolution, for instance, hinged on Republican primaries for seats on the State Board of Education, with extremists, moderates, extremists, and moderates winning in four successive elections.