The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes

In a divided America, the biggest solvable problem fueling political extremism and dysfunction is hiding in plain sight: party primaries. The Primary Solution is the “thought-provoking” (Arnold Schwarzenegger) answer the country needs.

Congress has become an unproductive and unaccountable mess. Polls show that only twenty percent of Americans think it’s doing a good job—yet ninety percent of incumbents are reelected. This shocking discrepancy is a natural outcome of our system of party primaries and their polarizing incentives.

Party primaries were invented over a century ago to democratize candidate nominations, but today their exclusionary rules and low turnout guarantee the exact opposite: only a small fraction of votes wind up deciding the vast majority of our elections. The result is a Congress that, rather than representing a majority of Americans, is instead beholden to the fringes of both major parties. This is the “primary problem” in our politics today. Fortunately, The Primary Solution “illuminates a powerful yet practical pathway out” (James Stavridis, Admiral, US Navy, Retired) and is “a must-read for anyone who wants a sane democracy” (Danielle Allen, author of Our Declaration).

Nick Troiano, founding executive director of Unite America, makes a bold proposal to abolish party primaries in our country. Doing so does not require a Constitutional amendment or an act of Congress. In fact, several states have already replaced party primaries with nonpartisan primaries that give all the voters the freedom to vote for any candidate in every election, regardless of party.

“A fresh, timely political analysis” (Kirkus Reviews), The Primary Solution offers voters across the political spectrum a realistic roadmap to a more representative and functional democracy.

Nick Troiano is the founding executive director of Unite America, a philanthropic venture fund that invests in nonpartisan election reform to foster a more representative and functional government. Since 2019, Unite America has invested over $50 million to help win three major statewide ballot initiatives and over a dozen state legislative and municipal policy victories. In 2014, Troiano ran for the US House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 10th District and was both the youngest candidate of the cycle and the most competitive independent Congressional candidate nationally in over two decades. Nick earned both his BA and MA in American government from Georgetown University and, as an undergraduate, cofounded an endowed Social Innovation and Public Service Fund. He regularly provides commentary to a range of media outlets on topics of democracy and politics, and he has been featured in three documentaries: Follow the Leader, Broken Eggs, and Unrepresented. He lives in Denver, Colorado.