A Democratic Process? Party Reform and the Role of Elites in Democratic Presidential Nominations

While the party elites selected the Democratic nominees in 1968 and 2024, conventional wisdom suggests that conventions have become meaningless as the nominee is regularly chosen by voters well ahead of time. We contend that while presidential nominations are undoubtedly more democratic than they were pre-1972, various reforms have affected the opportunities for meaningful participation by voters while still ensuring a central role for elites. This give-and-take between elite control and participatory democracy is dynamic, but in the current system, elites can still overrule voters. The central role the convention can assume in the post-modern era and the influential role for elites is evident in 2024, where delegates to the national convention, not voters, ultimately selected Vice-President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee. Even though 2028 will likely go back to the status quo – a nomination where voters have meaningful participation, as their preferences expressed in primaries and caucuses will likely affect the outcome – the ability for elites to overrule that and sway the choice of a nominee persists and can always be utilized. Through a series of reforms that have unfolded over the course of more than 50 years, the Democratic Party has preserved their ability to put their thumb on the scale as needed.