Elections: Frontloading

The race to be the first state.

Frontloading is a political phenomenon in American politics. Frontloading involves individual states moving their primary or caucus day to the front of the presidential primary season calendar. The first primaries or caucuses are reserved for Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.  Examine the chart above for the 2016 calendar and answer the questions that follow.

Questions for Completion

1.  What patterns do you notice in primaries and caucuses?

2.  Why might a state want to be as early as possible in the primary process?

3.  The first two states are Iowa and New Hampshire. Should they always be first? What are the advantages and disadvantages to this?