Caucusing 101: How Iowa Turned Into A Political Phenomenon
The Iowa Caucuses are first, which is why they matter.
Iowa matters because it’s first, but how did that happen?
“It’s really Jimmy Carter’s fault,” says Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science at Iowa State University.
But that’s getting slightly ahead of the story.
The caucuses that will be held Monday night across this state — in small towns and big towns, in schools and even people’s homes — grew out of reforms that were enacted after the chaos of the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968.
Inside the convention hall, the Democrats nominated
