Candidate-centered sources of party change: The case of Pat Robertson, 1988

The contemporary presidential nomination process is widely criticized for c ontributing to the "candidate-centered" nature of American politics. In par ticular, candidates mobilize their own followings during the nomination sta ge, which contributes to factionalization and divisiveness within the party . While the critics have a point, we contend that these qualities of presid ential nominations may also contribute to party responsiveness and change. Insurgent candidates like Pat Robertson are especially likely to attract un derrepresented interests and mobilize them into nomination campaign activit y. We show that this nomination-stage mobilization tends to carry over and spill over into the general election stage, both in the party's campaign fo r president and in U.S. House campaigns. Robertson's candidacy had extraord inary potential to change the Republican Party because his supporters were very different from supporters of other candidates, and a large proportion were newcomers to active involvement in the presidential nomination process .