Meet the Superdelegates: Clinton, Obama Fight for the Party Elite

"They were a bit controversial when they were put into effect," says Mayer. "In a party that is obsessed with an appearance of democracy, they give more power to party leaders...the Democrats are not an obvious party to endorse those kinds of ideas."

While the percentage of superdelegates increased throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, there were some efforts to get rid of them, according to Mayer. They remained mostly because they didn't have much of an effect on the outcome of the races.

But in 1984, superdelegates had an impact. Walter Mondale put out a call to superdelegates when he was 40 votes shy of clinching the Democratic nomination. He got the votes and the nomination.

This year, pundits have speculated on a worst-case scenario, in which the Democratic Party splits after one candidate grabs the popular vote but the other wins the nomination thanks to the superdelegates. However, superdelegate Michael Cryor, the Maryland Democratic Party chair, thinks they're not that super.

"Superdelegates for the most part are elected officials, and they are coming from districts where they have to respond to their voter base," he says. "I don't think people are going to independently be inconsistent with the trend set by the country and by their districts."

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2 of our series: Meet the Superdelegates: Democratic Governors Evenly Endorsing Obama and Clinton