Helping the party decide to decide: The media environment and party elite divisions in primary elections

Abstract

The success of party elites in nominating their preferred candidate is dependent on their ability to coordinate their efforts in the primary. While party elite coordination failure is not random, we know relatively little about what helps or hinders party coordination. Previous work has suggested, but not tested, that the media environment affects party coordination, either hindering party coordination by removing the monopoly party elites have on early politics or strengthening party coordination by giving party leaders access to media tools that facilitate coordination. I test these arguments using data on party elite coordination in congressional primaries between 2004 and 2020 and measures of media coverage not directly related to primary competition. I show that media focus on local politics in a congressional district substantially increases party coordination. Overall, this work broadens our understanding of the conditions, and specifically the media environments, that facilitate party elite coordination in primary elections.