Primaries

• States using a primary system ask people to vote on the candidate of their choosing from one party. Resulting delegate counts can be "winner takes all" or proportioned, meaning that the delegate count is split by percentage of votes.
  
  

Caucuses

• A caucus system brings together party members to make a decision on their party's nominee. Caucus systems such as the Iowa caucuses allow all party members to meet at pre-determined caucus locations, while other "closed" caucuses limit the voters to pre-selected party members.
  
  

History

• Iowa gained its "first in the nation" status in 1972, when new Democratic party rules dictated that the state's caucuses be on January 24, making it the earliest presidential candidate nomination process in the country. The Republican party quickly followed suit.
  
  

Effects

• Barack Obama's campagin team paid special attention to caucus states during the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Tony
  
  Some experts gave credit to Barack Obama's focus on states with caucuses as a key to his 2008 Democratic nomination victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton.
  
  

Expert Insight

• Former rock musician turned political activist Krist Novoselic defended the caucus system in an opinion piece in the Seattle Times in 2007, stating that traditional "partisan primaries drive down local participation in favor of expensive media campaigns."