Congressional Primary Elections is the first book to provide a history and analysis of congressional primary elections and will serve as a crucial part of courses on political parties and campaigns and elections. The book gives students the tools for understanding arguments for and against the reform of primary elections and for understanding the differences between types of primaries.

Robert G. Boatright is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University. He is the author of three other books, including Getting Primaried and Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada. His research interests include campaign finance, congressional elections, and interest groups.

1. Why Study Congressional Primaries? 2. Primary Elections and the "Democratic Experiment". 3. The Strategic Context of Congressional Primaries. 4. Open Seat Primaries. 5. Challenger Primaries. 6. Incumbent Primaries. 7. Race, Redistricting, and Primary Elections. 8. Primary Reform.