Clark University’s Department of Political Science and the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

presents

“Are Primary Elections Harming Democracy?”

• Thursday, March 20 at noon
• Lurie Conference Room, Higgins University Center

Robert G. Boatright, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
Clark University

Is having elections bad for American democracy? Many recent stories about political polarization have blamed primary elections for our politicians’ reluctance to seek compromise or to work toward bipartisan goals. When incumbents live in fear of “getting primaried,” the story goes, they are forced to appeal to the most ideologically extreme voters and to ignore everyone else. In his new book “Getting Primaried: The Changing Politics of Congressional Primary Challenges,” Robert Boatright looks at congressional primary challenges since 1970.  He explains what has and has not changed in these elections, and whether we need to fix the way we elect our legislators.

This lecture is free and open to the public.