Iowa caucuses are ‘important because they’re first’ – but are they democratic?

Rural voters, of which Iowa has many, have increasingly turned toward the Republican party. Illustration: The Guardian/Getty Images

Iowans are set to brave subzero temperatures on Monday when they arrive at their caucus sites at 7pm to formally kick off the process to choose their nominee.

In terms of pure numbers, the Iowa caucuses won’t have much of a role in determining who the Republican nominee is. The state allocates 40 delegates in the Republican nominating contest, roughly just 1.6% of the more than 2,400 that are up for grabs. But that small total belies the outsized influence the state can have on US presidential politics.