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Proposition 14 and California’s Minor Parties: A Case Study of Electoral Reform and Party Response

Proposition 14 and California’s Minor Parties: A Case Study of Electoral Reform and Party Response Abstract In 2010, California voters enacted Proposition 14, the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, which changed California’s electoral system from single-member, plurality district elections to a top two (majority) runoff system. Although literature in comparative politics and formal theory suggests this change should help third parties in California, almost 80% fewer minor-party candidates filed for office in 2012 than in 2010. Indeed, 2012 saw the smallest number of minor-party candidates in California since 1966. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this paper examines different explanations for the decline in minor-party candidacies. Although most observers argue that Proposition 14 directly discouraged minor-party candidates from filing for office (because they likely would not make the runoff ballot), I argue that the decline results from three other factors: (1) a long-run decline in the California Libertarian Party, (2) a legislature-driven increase in the filing fee required from minor-party candidates, and, most importantly, (3) party elites foregoing candidate recruitment in 2012. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png California Journal of Politics and Policy de Gruyter

Proposition 14 and California’s Minor Parties: A Case Study of Electoral Reform and Party Response

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the
ISSN
2194-6132
eISSN
1944-4370
DOI
10.1515/cjpp-2012-0043
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract In 2010, California voters enacted Proposition 14, the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, which changed California’s electoral system from single-member, plurality district elections to a top two (majority) runoff system. Although literature in comparative politics and formal theory suggests this change should help third parties in California, almost 80% fewer minor-party candidates filed for office in 2012 than in 2010. Indeed, 2012 saw the smallest number of minor-party candidates in California since 1966. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this paper examines different explanations for the decline in minor-party candidacies. Although most observers argue that Proposition 14 directly discouraged minor-party candidates from filing for office (because they likely would not make the runoff ballot), I argue that the decline results from three other factors: (1) a long-run decline in the California Libertarian Party, (2) a legislature-driven increase in the filing fee required from minor-party candidates, and, most importantly, (3) party elites foregoing candidate recruitment in 2012.

Journal

California Journal of Politics and Policy – de Gruyter

Published: Oct 1, 2014

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