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The political caucuses are a complicated grass roots process by which neighbors in political precincts (the lowest level of political party organization) meet and discuss candidates for president in their respective parties. They then express their preference for one of (usually) many candidates who would like to become the national cnadidate for their party in the next presidential election. (W Stone, A Abramowitz, R Rapoport, "The Iowa Caucuses and the Presidential Nomination Process, 1989.") Caucuses are used in the State of Iowa and a few other states such as Nevada and Louisiana. The Iowa caucuses, however, became the "first in the nation" process for selecting presidential candidates as the national political parties agreed to have Iowa be first and New Hampshire second followed by a variety of primaries in other states especially on Feb 5, 2008 which has been labeled ''Tsunami Tuesday''when a majority of delegates will have been selected for a nomination {Link without Title} . In most other states primaries are held for the selection of candidates for president. In primaries, voters go to voting stations (polling places) and simply register their vote and then leave. The uniqueness of the caucuses is that people in the Democratic Party engage in discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of each potential candidate and often bargain with each other trying to convince supporters of another candidate to "come over to their side". In the Republican Party there is usually a written vote at the start of the meeting sometimes followed by other discussions of political party platform issues. Other Political Parties (the Greens, the Libertarian Party, The Socialist Party, the Independent party, etc.) may have other processes for selecting their candidate for president. The Iowa Caucus Class http://www.public.iastate.edu/~sws/ic/iowacaucusclass.html is a comprehensive university exploration of the process by which the United States of America selects its candidates for president. See, ''Democracy and Deliberation: New Directions for Democratic Reform'' By James S. Fishkin. The caucus class, developed by Dr. Steffen W. Schmidt, ''University Professor'' of Political Science at Iowa State University, is the FIRST Internet course on the caucuses and presidential selection process. Dr. Schmidt is a pioneer in distance learning and was recently awarded the highest honor for innovation in distance education by the IDLA (Iowa Distance Learning Association). The course uses the latest technologies including streaming digital video clips, discussion forums, real-time communications through Skype, Instant Messenger, and Web CT. On-line secure tests are also used for assessment. The course is intended to be a "demonstration tool" for democratic politics and the practice of grass-roots (i.e. participatory) democracy for anyone interested in developing these techniques. The use of the Internet allows participants from around the world, for the first time, to create training communities or self-train on a very interesting process that dates back to Native Americans ( American Indians)in the United States. In fact, the word "caucus" is an American Indian term that means "a meeting of tribal leaders." (see David Yepsen, "FAQ's on the Iowa Caucuses", DSMR, 2004.) The Iowa Political Caucus Virtual Institute is a long term project to train thousands of "Democracy Volunteers" around the world who will become the trainers for democratic caucus initiatives in other countries. Sources "The Iowa Caucus 2008 First in The Nation Site", the official Iowa State homepage for the 2008 caucuses, http://www.iowacaucus.org/ "Candidate Support in Presidential Nomination Campaigns: The Case of Iowa in 1984", Walter J. Stone, Ronald B. Rapoport, Alan I. Abramowitz, ''The Journal of Politics'', Vol. 54, No. 4 (Nov., 1992). "How Important Are Iowa and New Hampshire to Winning Post-Reform Presidential Nominations?" Randall E. Adkins, Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 2, 431-444 (2001). "Nomination Choices: Caucus and Primary Outcomes, 1976-88," Barbara Norrander, American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 37, No. 2 (May, 1993), pp. 343-364. New Hampshire Primary Node, http://www.nhpr.org/node/12522 The Iowa Political Caucus Virtual Institute The Iowa Political Caucus Virtual Institute is a long term project to train thousands of "Democracy Volunteers" around the world who will become the trainers for democratic caucus initiatives in countries around the world. The Institute was founded by Dr. Steffen W. Schmidt, University Professor of Political Science, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA. The Institute is Internet-based so as to allow easy access from anyone with an Internet connection. The objective is to build a community of persons interested in giving local citizens a stake in the political process. The Institute is partly funded by SEAS L.L.C. Consulting, by Dr. Schmidt, and by volunteers from Iowa. For more information contact steffenschmidt2005 gmail [dot com |
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