One glaring shortcoming of our existing system is the bewildering labyrinth of ways in which the individual states, the Democrats, and the Republicans, decide who to nominate for the White House. To get the party's nod as the presidential candidate, a Republican must win the support of 1,237 delegates to the nomination convention; a Democrat must win over 2,382 of these party stalwarts.
The processes through which these delegates are selected attests to the rule-making creativity of each party and state. Republicans generally prefer to choose their delegates through conventions and state-run primaries. These venues can be open (i.e., anyone can vote) or closed (i.e., only party members vote), and bound (i.e., the delegates are pledged to vote for the winning candidate) or unbound (i.e., the delegates are free to choose whomever they want). The number of delegates the candidate can win depends on whether their apportioning is direct, proportional, or winner-take all.
Democrats, in addition to primaries, also have caucuses, which are conducted by the party and (like the primaries) can be open, closed, semi-open, or semi-closed. The caucus rules trump the entire system.

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