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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublican superdelegates
I thought this was a pretty good write-up
http://www.bustle.com/articles/141611-does-the-gop-have-superdelegates-the-republican-partys-nomination-rules-are-different-this-year
The GOP, however, has decided to establish fewer superdelegates than the Democrats. In the Republican Party, the only people who get superdelegate status are the three members of each states national party. This means that in the GOP, superdelegates are only about 7 percent of the total number of delegates.
The more important distinction, though, is that Republican superdelegates do not have the freedom to vote for whichever candidate they please. The national Republican Party ruled in 2015 that their superdelegates must vote for the candidate that their state voted for, and thats the biggest difference between Republican and Democratic superdelegates.
In general, superdelegates are a way for the party elite to exert additional influence over the nomination process. If voters were on the verge of nominating a candidate who the party felt didnt have a good shot at winning the general election, the superdelegates might step in and tip the scales.
That could conceivably happen this year on the Democratic side. However, its simply not possible for Republican superdelegates to override the wishes of Republican voters. Thanks to the rules the national GOP has established, Republican superdelegates arent very super at all.
The more important distinction, though, is that Republican superdelegates do not have the freedom to vote for whichever candidate they please. The national Republican Party ruled in 2015 that their superdelegates must vote for the candidate that their state voted for, and thats the biggest difference between Republican and Democratic superdelegates.
In general, superdelegates are a way for the party elite to exert additional influence over the nomination process. If voters were on the verge of nominating a candidate who the party felt didnt have a good shot at winning the general election, the superdelegates might step in and tip the scales.
That could conceivably happen this year on the Democratic side. However, its simply not possible for Republican superdelegates to override the wishes of Republican voters. Thanks to the rules the national GOP has established, Republican superdelegates arent very super at all.
Interestingly, this still can actual "distort" the vote, because it gives smaller states proportionally more say in the nomination process.
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Republican superdelegates (Original Post)
Recursion
Feb 2016
OP
Wounded Bear
(58,670 posts)1. So, the Republicans are more democratic than the Democrats?
Recursion
(56,582 posts)2. Looks like it. I mean the names are kind of silly to begin with
I don't know anybody seriously pursuing a monarchy, so we're all "republicans", and I don't know of anybody who denies that the just authority of a government comes from the consent of the governed, so we're all "democrats".
It's like the old Catholic Encyclopedia entry on the Orthodox church that pointed out that all religions consider themselves both "catholic" with a small "c" and "orthodox" with a small "o".