How the Iowa caucuses became the first major challenge of US presidential campaigns

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Steffen W. Schmidt, Iowa State University

(THE CONVERSATION) The first and most visible test of Republican candidate support in the 2024 presidential election is the Iowa caucuses, which take place on Jan. 15, 2024.

This year, even though Democrat Joe Biden is not facing a serious challenger for renomination, the Democrats had already decided to move their first test to South Carolina on Feb. 3, 2024.

While Iowa does not control who becomes the candidate of each party, Iowans’ choices almost always end up matching the rest of the nation.

One of the architects of the modern Iowa caucuses, which began in 1972, wrote that the significance of the caucus was unanticipated.

“Never in our dreams did we realize we would be ‘first in the nation,’ nor did we ever expect anyone outside Iowa would pay much attention,” retired Iowa State University engineering professor Richard...