海角大神

For all their passion for the 眉ber-progressive policies and communitarian worldview of Bernie Sanders, this week many of his supporters have begun to rage instead against the Democratic nominating machine.

The presidential candidate鈥檚 supporters are decrying a nominating process that to them seems outmoded at best, if not hopelessly undemocratic and corrupt.

Many Democratic Party regulars may call this sour grapes from the side that鈥檚 about to lose. Hillary Clinton is on track for winning the party鈥檚 nomination in a close but fair fight, they say.

But the protests on behalf of Senator Sanders may be something different and more significant 鈥� a flare-up that鈥檚 part of a broad and persistent strain in American thought, toward more direct voter control and less filtering of electoral processes by political elites. It鈥檚 an impetus that appears to be growing on both sides of the political spectrum, even though it runs counter to the caution that America鈥檚 founders had about direct democracy.

After all, just weeks ago it was Republican Donald Trump lamenting a 鈥渞igged鈥� system that, at that time, appeared to be threatening his shot at a presidential nomination. Now, Sanders has attributed his narrow loss in Kentucky this week to the states 鈥渃losed primary鈥� rules that barred independent voters 鈥� the same complaint he made about New York and others in April.

And his supporters caused at the Nevada Democratic Convention in Las Vegas last week after bitter arguments over convention rules, contested voice votes, and the necessary qualifications of delegates.

鈥淭here's this idea across the country that full democratization is in all respects a good thing, that when people speak they should automatically be responded to,鈥� says Jeanne Zaino, a political scientist at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not what the founders thought, that鈥檚 not what the party elders have always thought, and it鈥檚 certainly not the way the system is set up.鈥�

鈥楢 rallying cry鈥�

From the white working class voters who flocked to Mr. Trump鈥檚 huge rallies to the Millennials so energized by the rumpled democratic socialist from Vermont, there have been cries to make elections more open to voters themselves, at the same time stripping establishment leaders of their electoral clout. It remains to be seen how the parties will respond.

鈥淩ules are the rules,鈥� says Professor Zaino. 鈥淭here may be an argument that they should be changed 鈥� but to say that it is 鈥榬igged鈥� at this point, I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a winning argument. But it certainly is now a rallying cry.鈥�

For Jeremy Kaufman, a young entrepreneur and software designer living in Brooklyn, the system may not be rigged in the pernicious sense of the word, but it hardly gives voters like him an equal voice in the process.

鈥淭he word should really be 鈥� well, it鈥檚 like there鈥檚 a Democratic hierarchy, and they think they know what鈥檚 best,鈥� Mr. Kaufman says. 鈥淪o it's rigged in the sense that this is always the way the Democratic Party been doing it for 20, 30, 50 years, with the base not always knowing how things are run.鈥�

鈥淎nd now they don鈥檛 know how to handle a loud and aggressive group of people who want things to be different, and who are finally seeing the way in which things have been for a very long time,鈥� he continues.

Lara Wechsler, a court stenographer for the New York City court system, agrees. She is appalled by the system of 鈥渟uperdelegates鈥� (not bound by a state鈥檚 voters) that has given Mrs. Clinton an advantage in this election.

鈥淚 am also very angry at the Democratic establishment,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o angry that almost all Democratic politicians are supporting Clinton, and therefore not even representing, even if in a lesser proportion, the Sanders contingent.鈥�

鈥淚 mean, when you got like 98 percent of the politicians, city council people, mayors, party leaders, all just all going to Clinton when such a large part of the population is for Sanders 鈥� in some states he wins overwhelmingly and then the politicians that represent us don't at all? 鈥� it makes me not trust them at all,鈥� Ms. Wechsler continues. 鈥淣ow, it would be hard for me to say that if, say, 60 percent of the Democratic politicians in NYC supported Clinton and 40 percent supported Sanders 鈥� or even just 70-30. But it is like 98 percent to 2 percent? Forgetaboutit.鈥�

Points of contention

Sanders is behind Clinton in both total votes and in delegates tied to the state-level primary outcomes. But he has remained competitive enough, winning some primaries and losing others, to stir questions about whether he鈥檚 the victim of a system stacked against insurgents.

In addition to the Clinton-inclined superdelegates, a top concern riling the Sanders camp is the closed primary; in closed primaries, political independents cannot participate. Another contentious issue is the onerous registration rules that make it hard for first-time voters to participate in closed-primary states like New York.

The nominating-process controversy in both parties is part of a larger pattern in American politics. 聽In an era of viral news via Facebook, citizen-decided ballot initiatives, and real-time reporting of vote counts, many voters expect politics to be about one person, one vote, period. Currents of unrest over the economy and political dysfunction in Washington have only added to the tendency of voters to distrust anything that looks like establishment fingers weighing on the electoral scales.

All this contrasts with some longstanding features of presidential politics.

America鈥檚 Constitution carefully balanced the virtues of representative democracy alongside safeguards against mob-rule majoritarianism. United States political parties, though they evolved along their own tracks, have shown a comparable tension over the roles of masses and party insiders.

As a result, from the delegate-based nominations to the Electoral College in general elections, voters technically select proxies to choose the US president. And when the parties crafted reforms several decades ago to put new emphasis on primary elections to choose nominees, they also calculated that party leaders should retain some clout 鈥� notably in the Democratic Party鈥檚 superdelegate system.

By waging 鈥渙utsider鈥� campaigns and galvanizing many first-time voters, Trump and Sanders may be adding to the pressure for change.

Falling into line or not?

How the Sanders drama will unfold looks highly uncertain.聽Many Democrats worry that the rancor could spill over into the national convention in Philadelphia this summer.

鈥淔or a while we were saying that this election is similar to what Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went through in 2008,鈥� Zaino says. 鈥淐linton鈥檚 supporters were very frustrated as the race came to an end.鈥� But the real fear for the Democratic party at this point is that Sanders is either going to move this party forward, or he is going to set it on fire.鈥�

Many election observers believe vitriol from the Sanders camp will eventually subside. For one thing, the kind of young voters behind the vocal 鈥淏ernie or Bust鈥� movement remain the demographic with the lower turnout and less political clout. 聽聽

鈥淭he Democrats have a lot of different ways of making a coalition,鈥� says Matt Hale, a political scientist at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. 鈥淭he Democrats behind Hillary Clinton are going to have a coalition of African Americans, I think they鈥檙e going to have an enormous percentage of the Latino vote, and then obviously Hillary has women.鈥濃��

鈥淎nd then the sort of limousine liberals now supporting Sanders, they鈥檙e smart enough and rich enough, so they鈥檙e not going to abandon Hillary Clinton and pave the way for Donald Trump,鈥� Professor Hale continues. 鈥淭he kids might, the young people. But there鈥檚 a bigger pool it seems to me for Hillary to build a broad coalition.鈥�

Facebook meets voter unrest

But the 2016 election could mark a change in thinking about the process, especially for Democrats.

Part of the reason, suggests Brooklyn entrepreneur Kaufman, is that social media has revolutionized how young people engage politics.

鈥淚f you look at the way the election has played out 鈥� this is really the first social media election,鈥� he says. 鈥淥bama had the first social media election in the sense that there was a lot of 鈥榤arketing,鈥� and the ability to connect with people was easier. But people didn鈥檛 feel they had the same voice that they did eight years ago that they do now.鈥�

鈥淩ight now we鈥檙e at a hyper-voice state with social media,鈥� Kaufman says, 鈥淪o people feel like they have a lot of power to share their experiences.鈥�

Anti-establishment anger has been upending the Republican party for years, both with the emergence of the tea party seven years ago and the unforeseen rise of Donald Trump this year. And though Democrats have mostly maintained their broad-based coalitions during this time, the 鈥淏ernie or Bust鈥� movement could portend a similar populist revolt from the progressive wing of the party.

鈥淗is supporters don鈥檛 at all seem concerned about the fate of the Democratic Party,鈥� says Zaino. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e more concerned about the fate of the movement, and that is different from what we鈥檝e seen before.鈥�