First-in-the-Nation in Proficiency or by Providence? Iowa, New Hampshire and the Presidential Primary Process.

In light of the controversy surrounding Iowa and New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status in the presidential primary sequence, it is important to consider whether or not these two states deserve their highly coveted calendar positions. This issue is even more pressing in light of political science findings about how the results of the first primaries affect the final outcome of the nomination process. In this paper, we evaluate several criteria to see if Iowa and New Hampshire are as "special" as their proponents suggest. After briefly comparing Iowa and New Hampshire's demographic characteristics vis-à-vis those of the rest of the country, we use NES data to compare the political knowledge of Iowans and New Hampshirites to that of the mass electorate. Finally, we examine the election results in Iowa and New Hampshire to gain additional leverage on how their residents' votes are turned into representation. Our results are a mixed bag, though, in particular, we find that Iowans and New Hampshirites are not as knowledgeable nor as interested as their proponents suggest. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]