The 1980 Iowa Caucus in the Context of Caucus History

Every four years the competitive battle for the presidency begins with the candidates traipsing all over the country trying to win the required amount of national convention delegates to gain their parties\u27 presidential nomination. Today the nominating process consists of two methods for obtaining the needed delegates to be nominated, the caucus/convention method and the primary election method. The presidential primary is now clearly the dominant method. In 1916 there were only 20 presidential primaries, but in 1980 there were 36. Approximately three-fourths of the total delegates to both parties\u27 national conventions are controlled by the primaries. Candidates invest most of their time and most of their money in the primary states