Abstract
The growing number of extreme candidates in contemporary American politics creates a strategic dilemma for political parties, who must weigh their interest in attaining majority against the negative side effects associated with electing extremists. Previous research has theorized that political parties have been in decline for several decades, and have lost meaningful control over the nominating process, creating the opportunity for extreme candidates to gain party support and win nomination. I conduct a comparative case study between two open-seat elections for Senate, one featuring two moderate candidates and the other featuring a moderate and relatively extreme candidate, analyzing the proportion of National Senatorial Committee expenditures that each candidate received during the course of the election. I find that in the case featuring a relatively extreme candidate, there was no significant change in the level of expenditures from the candidate’s National Senatorial Committee. These findings suggest that political parties prioritize the aim of seat-maximization over the maintenance of strict ideological unity within the party, and that political parties may contribute to the process of polarization by virtue of this priority.
Advisor
Davis, Erik
Department
Political Science
Recommended Citation
Letkeman, Graham, "Weighing Unity and Victory: Exploring Political Parties’ Role in the Election of Extreme Candidates" (2023). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 10495.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/10495
Disciplines
American Politics
Keywords
Extreme Candidates, Political Parties, Campaign Finance
Publication Date
2023
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2023 Graham Letkeman