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"Rationale For Super-Delegates:
The Democratic Party established this system in part in response to the nomination of George McGovern in 1972. McGovern took only one state and had only 37.5 percent of the popular vote. Then in 1976, Jimmy Carter was a dark-horse candidate with little national experience. Super-delegates were implemented in 1984.
Super-delegates are designed to act as a check on ideologically extreme or inexperienced candidates. It also gives power to people who have a vested interested in party policies: elected leaders. Because the primary and caucus voters do not have to be active members of the party (in New Hampshire they can sign up and sign out going-and-coming at the polls), the super-delegate system has been called a safety-value".
I suppose (just my opinion) the republican party feels they don't need this kind of check as they have won more presidential elections recently and have never had a challenger like McGovern succeed in getting the nomination. They vote in much fewer numbers in the primaries. The rank and file follow the leadership much more so than the democrats. It IS NOT because they are "more democratic" than the democrats".
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