History

• According to the official Iowa Caucus site, "some form of caucus has existed since the early 1800s, even before Iowa became a state in 1846." The reason suggested for why the framers of the Iowa State Constitution chose caucuses over a primary system was the belief that the caucus system was more of a "grass-roots, democracy-in-action approach" to the nomination of political candidates.
  
  

Size

• According to information disseminated by the Iowa Secretary of State, there are 1,774 precincts in Iowa and thus 1,774 caucuses. There are according to the same source, 99 counties in the state and consequently, 99 separate county level conventions where delegates eventually choose delegates to the state convention and state congressional district convention. Any Iowa resident at least 18 years of age by the date of a November election and who is a member of a political party is eligible to participate in the caucuses and vote but according to the Associated Press, "traditionally only a small number of Iowans show up." In 2008, about 120,000 to 150,000 state residents were expected to vote in the Democratic caucuses and an estimated 80,000 to 90,000 were expected to participate in the Republican caucuses.
  
  

Effects

• The high visibility and national recognition of the Iowa Caucuses among the American population in general is dispassionate to the actual amount of political influence exerted by Iowa voters with respect to choosing delegates to the national conventions. Based on figures compiled by "The New York Times" during the 2008 elections, only about 1 percent of the nation's delegates to the National Democratic and Republican conventions were chosen by the Iowa State Convention. The notoriety of the Iowa Caucus has a good deal more to do with the extensive amount of national media coverage the caucus receives than real political influence.
  
  

Time Frame

• According to the Associated Press, the Iowa Caucus became the first major electoral event in the presidential candidate nomination process in 1972, when in response to "proportionate representation and affirmative action recommendations" issued by a commission appointed after riots disrupted the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Iowans incorporated the recommendations by adopting the rule that there must be one month between the precinct level caucuses, county conventions, Iowa State Convention and the national conventions. Consequently the caucuses ended up being held in the month of January.
  
  

Significance

• The real significance of the Iowa Caucuses is found not in the number of delegates Iowa sends to the national conventions where presidential candidates are chosen but in the fact that it serves as an early indication of which candidates for president might win the nomination of their parties at the national conventions and is widely considered the first step in presidential nomination process. Candidates have historically campaigned extensively in Iowa due to the national recognition and wide national media coverage enjoyed by the caucuses. Due to the visibility and extensive campaigning that occurs, economist Harvey Siegelman estimated that the economic impact for the state of the Iowa Caucus in 2004 was "approximately $50 to $60 million."