First Past the Post and Public Opinion: Do Early Primaries Matter?

Dr. Jolly Emrey*, Associate Professor and Chair of the Political Science Dept., will talk about “First past the post and public opinion: Do early primaries matter?” on Tues, Apr 12, at 7:30pm at The Fort Atkinson Club Community Center (211 S. Water St. East, Fort Atkinson). It’s part of the Club’s free Spring 2016 Lecture Series (although donations are welcome).

* Due to illness, Dr. Emrey is unable to provide the lecture tonight. However, she has arranged for Dr. Eric Loepp to deliver the talk!

It’s a presidential election year and common wisdom states that winning early primaries matters for candidates in many ways, especially when it comes to public perception and public opinion. This talk will explore how much of the common wisdom is true, according to political scientists, and whether or not this election is really all that different from past primary races.

Andersen Library has resources for learning more! Search databases for resources such as “Early primaries, viability and changing preferences for presidential candidates” (Presidential Studies Quarterly, 2012, vol.42:no.2, pp.231-255 doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2012.03964.x), “Prescient primaries?: A spatial voting model of US primaries with early commitment and uncertainty over future preferences” (Conference Papers – Midwestern Political Science Association, 2008), “Voter awareness in early presidential primaries” (Conference Papers – New England Political Science Association, 2007), and “Forecasting the presidential primary vote: Viability, ideology and momentum” (International Journal of Forecasting, 2008, vol.24, pp.193-208).

Ask a librarian (visit the Reference Desk, call 262.472.1032, or choose to email or chat) for assistance with finding additional materials.