Here’s a question you may not have asked yourself: why does the Republican party hold primaries and caucuses at all? Is there a better system than the long, drawn out process of staggered elections which push and pull the political momentum towards different candidates at different points in the cycle? Wouldn’t it be easier to have all of the states elect their nominee at once? Or is there another way entirely to choose our political leaders? Brown University political science professor James Morone argues that the Republican primary system is simply not working for the GOP the way that it worked for Democrats in 2008. In fact, the 2012 primary process may even be tearing the party apart.