The Circus that Wasn't: How Parties Lent Order to the California Recall.

How did the 2003 California recall - a media circus with 135 candidates and no primaries - end up looking like a typical election? I examine how party elites recruited some candidates, compelled others to drop out, and punished non-compliant ones.The 2003 California recall election, media reports to the contrary, was anything but a circus. Despite the presence of 135 candidates, just three managed to split 94% of the vote, and the winner came close to achieving a majority. In this paper, I use elite interviews and a social networks analysis of campaign donations to study how the Republican Party sought to impose order on the potentially chaotic political environment. I find that a network of Republican donors, activists, and officeholders coordinated their efforts to advantage Arnold Schwarzenegger and pressure other Republicans out of the race. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]