The Routledge Handbook of Primary Elections is an important research tool for scholars, a resource guide for students, and a source of ideas for those who seek to modify the electoral process.

Introduction [Robert G. Boatright] Part 1: The Origins of Primary Elections 1. What is, and what is not, a Primary Election? [Alan Ware] 2. The Origins of the Direct Primary [John F. Reynolds] 3. Candidate Emergence in the Era of Direct Primaries [Jamie L. Carson and Ryan D. Williamson] 4. Should we Expect Primary Elections to Create Polarization? A Robust Median Voter Theorem with Rational Parties [Gilles Serra] Part 2: Primary Voters and Primary Voting Laws 5. Sorting Dixie: The Changing Profile of Southern Presidential Primary Electorates [Seth C. McKee] 6. The Nature of Crossover Voters [Barbara Norrander] 7. The Effect of Open and Closed Primaries on Voter Turnout [Matthew J. Geras and Michael H. Crespin] 8. Strategic Candidate Entry: Primary Type and Candidate Divergence [Kristin Kanthak and Eric Loepp] Part 3: Candidates and Parties in Primary Elections 9. The Direct Primary and Voting Behavior in U.S. General Elections [Shigeo Hirano and James M. Snyder, Jr.] 10. Divisive Primaries: When do They Hurt in the General Election? [Jeffrey Lazarus] 11. Is there a Link Between Primary Competition and General Election Results? [Robert G. Boatright and Vincent G. Moscardelli] 12. Ideological Primaries and their Influence in Congress [Caitlin E. Jewitt and Sarah A. Treul] 13. When Might Moderates Win the Primary? [Danielle M. Thomsen] 14. Primary Elections and Group Dynamics: Examining the Makeup of the Party Coalitions [Casey B. K. Dominguez] Part 4: U. S. Presidential Primaries 15. 2016: One Party Decided [Marty Cohen] 16. Citizen Choice in Presidential Primaries [Wayne Steger] 17. The Fuzzy Frontrunner: Donald Trump and the Role of Ideology in Presidential Nomination Politics [Dante J. Scala] 18. Televised Debates in Presidential Primaries [David A. Hopkins] Part 5: Primaries Outside of the United States 19. Mind the Gap: The Effects of Intra- and Inter-Party Competition on Party Unity in Parliamentary Democracies [Reuven Y. Hazan and Reut Itzkovitch-Malka] 20. Primaries and Legislative Behavior [Indriði H. Indriðason and Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson] 21. Party Primaries as a Strategic Choice: The Costs and Benefits of Democratic Candidate Selection [Kathleen Bruhn] 22. Primary Elections in New Democracies: The Evolution of Candidate Selection Methods in Ghana [Nahomi Ichino and Noah L. Nathan] 23. Party Primaries in Canada [Scott Pruysers and Anthony Sayers] 24. The Italian Style of Intra-Party Democracy: A Twenty-Year Long Journey [Marino De Luca] Part 6: Primary Election Reform 25. Beyond Open and Closed: Complexity in American Primary Election Reform [J. Andrew Sinclair and Ian O'Grady] 26. Sore Loser Laws in Presidential and Congressional Elections [Michael S. Kang and Barry C. Burden]