Democracy is a thing that sometimes hides interesting terminology. Among the new phenomena for Russia are primary or preliminary elections. In the Western manner they are called primaries. What is a primary election? Are they compatible with Russian realities?
Definition
The term "primaries" (primaries, "primary") has two interpretations. Firstly, this is voting, in which voters determine a single candidate from a political association (as a rule, a party), a municipal district or other territorial or structural unit with a rank lower than the one in which an official will be elected at the next stage. For example, a person who wins the primaries in his municipal district (part of the city) can then become a candidate for the election of the mayor of the city. Secondly, this is a preliminary, "rehearsal" vote, which is not considered official. But it can, for example, determine the favorites of the present or help citizens decide on the future choice.
Primaries are a rather new phenomenon for Russia, but quite typical for the USA. Americans, using this democratic tool, determinecandidates for elected positions in local self-government bodies. Most of the candidates for the office of the President of the United States pass through the preliminary voting.
US Presidential Primaries
Primaries - what is it for the average American? First of all, this is a phenomenon associated with the election of the President of the United States. The election of the head of the American state by the population is, in fact, a choice between two parties - the Republican and the Democratic. The nationwide vote is preceded by a primaries stage in which a candidate from each party is determined. The main idea here is to ensure that candidates with similar political views and content of the program do not take away electoral votes from each other at the main stage. By the way, there are precedents when people who lost in the primaries were still nominated in the presidential elections, but in the status of non-partisans.
Primary elections in the US are of two types - open (when any citizen can vote) and closed (the right to vote - only party members). The first US primaries were held back in the 19th century. At first, they were an optional stage of the presidential election, but by 1927, laws were passed in each state, according to which, without a primary vote, the presidential race could not be held. The U. S. has very different primary formats, depending on the state. Somewhere in the primary elections, only those who indicate their affiliation with that party can vote for a candidate from a particular party. In other states, everyone has the right to vote.
Russian primaries
What is the "primaries", in Russia, not many people know yet. But in recent years, more and more citizens are getting the opportunity to get acquainted with this phenomenon. In the summer of 2014, primaries were held for elections to the Moscow City Duma. Residents of the Russian capital got the opportunity to express their attitude towards candidates for the position of deputies of the city's legislative assembly.
This stage of the elections was unofficial, but, according to a number of political scientists, it became an important step forward in building democratic relations between the government and the people. 250,000 residents of the capital voted in the Moscow primaries. The acting deputies of the Moscow City Duma won in 16 districts. But in the remaining 29, representatives of various statuses and professions won, for example, employees of budgetary institutions, doctors. Pop and show business stars participated in the elections.
Criticism
The main thesis of people who are critical of the primaries is that the Russians are not well informed about the essence of this voting stage. "Primaries? What is it? I haven't heard!" - this is how, according to critics, the typical response of a citizen will appear. In particular, during the primaries in Moscow, some residents of the capital were sure that they were present at the real elections of deputies. In addition, as some experts note, after the primaries, the electorate stopped perceiving many candidates as party candidates. If, say, he sympathized (and did not know what the primaries were) for United Russia, then afterin the preliminary vote, he might have been under the impression that the candidate was acting independently of the party. Other critics note a very low turnout in the primaries, which may indicate a lack of interest from citizens. The figures for the same Moscow elections are cited as an example: despite the predicted turnout figure of 700,000 people, several times fewer people turned up at the polling stations. According to some politicians, this means that Muscovites do not have confidence in the primaries, that such an event cannot be put on a par with official elections. However, critics believe the result could have been better if the organizers had carried out a campaign to inform city residents about this stage of the election in advance.
Positive evaluation
There are experts who speak positively about the primaries. What are their counterarguments to critics? Primaries - what is it? Why does this phenomenon deserve the praise of experts? The main thesis of the bearers of reverence regarding the primaries is that voters get the opportunity to first get to know the candidates, study their profile and values.
Deputies who participate in the primaries, analysts believe, will have an advantage over those who considered it necessary to ignore this stage of the elections - recognition. For example, when the official voting for candidates to the Moscow City Duma is held, those deputies who got into the city parliament last time, but were not known to Muscovites, may give up their mandatesthose who positively showed themselves to the townspeople in the primaries. As a result, experts believe, the democratic nature of the elections will increase and political competition will intensify. Primary elections to the Moscow City Duma, thus, gave citizens the opportunity to understand the essence of the primaries, what it is and why it is needed.
