How candidate selection structures and genders political ambition: illustrations from Uruguay

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Cecilia Josefsson
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Leadership Selection ◽  
Selection Procedures ◽  
Formal And Informal Institutions ◽  
Almost All

Men’s over-representation persists in almost all legislatures. This article engages with this problem by bringing together literature on the gendered nature of political parties and literature on the gender gap in political ambition to argue that candidate selection procedures structure the meaning and importance of political ambition. Exploiting the large variation in formal and informal institutions guiding candidate selection in Uruguay, I theorise and empirically explore how two of the most common ways to select legislative candidates worldwide – (1) primaries and (2) exclusive leadership selection – shape the meaning and importance of political ambition in diverging ways, with gendered effects.

Measuring candidate selection mechanisms in European elections: Comparing formal party rules to candidate survey responses

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A Meserve ◽  
Sivagaminathan Palani ◽  
Daniel Pemstein
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Survey Respondent ◽  
Selection Procedures ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Selection Mechanisms ◽  
Survey Measure

Students of party organization often rely on politicians’ perceptions when measuring internal party institutions and organizational characteristics. We compare a commonly used survey measure of political parties’ European Parliament candidate selection mechanisms to measures that the authors coded directly from parties’ selection rules. We find substantial disconnect between formal institutions and survey respondent perceptions of selection mechanisms, raising questions about measure accuracy and equivalency. While this divergence may be driven either by distinctions between de jure and de facto selection procedures or by respondent error, we find the differences between the two measures are unsystematic. Our findings suggest that authors studying party characteristics must decide whether their research question calls for survey or formal institutional measures.

Women in Political Parties

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Morgan ◽  
Magda Hinojosa
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Selection Procedures ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Organizational Ties

Jana Morgan and Magda Hinojosa examine women’s representation within parties as leaders, candidates, and officeholders and find that these positions are increasingly accessible to women. They argue that candidate selection procedures are important for women’s presence within parties, while gender quotas and ideology matter less than we might expect. They also evaluate whether parties advocate for women’s issues or employ strategies to articulate women’s concerns. They find that even as descriptive representation has advanced, parties rarely offer substantive linkages for women. As a result, women are less likely to identify with parties than men. To improve women’s descriptive representation in parties, they argue for better candidate selection processes, candidate training programs, and increased state funding for female candidates. To advance substantive representation, they advocate for parties to craft policy and organizational ties with women and to align gender issues with existing partisan divides, thereby integrating rather than isolating gender issues.

Indicators of Political Personalization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon Rahat ◽  
Ofer Kenig
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Leadership Selection ◽  
Over Time

Ten indicators of political personalization, covering all of its types and subtypes, are presented in this chapter. The analysis starts with the institutional personalization of both governmental (electoral systems and executives) and nongovernmental institutions (leadership selection and candidate selection in political parties). It then turns to indicators of media personalization, of both the uncontrolled (news coverage of politics) and the controlled type (unmediated messages). Finally, the chapter looks at indicators of personalization in the behavior of politicians (legislators’ behavior) and of voters. The logic and significance of each indicator is examined, as well as its advantages and limitations; and trends developed over time are presented country by country. Potential indicators that are not used are also mentioned and their exclusion is explained.

‘I bend, indeed, but never break’: Formal rules and informal processes of candidate selection for European elections

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55
Author(s):  
Camille Kelbel
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
European Level ◽  
Selection Procedures ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Central Aspect ◽  
The Media ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Formal Rules

Many of the criticisms commonly made of modern political parties concern their alleged lack of transparency and use of informality in their inner organization. Yet, little is known about the extent to which parties really bend their rules. This article investigates whether and how political parties use informality in one central aspect of intra-party life: candidate selection. More specifically, selection procedures for European elections are examined since party actions at the European level are still under little scrutiny from the media and the voters, hence granting them much leeway. To compare rules with practices, actors and levels cited in 51 party statutes are matched with their uses in 2014, gathered through a survey and interviews of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Even though informal processes are found to be generally less inclusive than the rules prescribed, divergences are often modest, suggesting that parties do not necessarily rely on informality in their day-to-day functioning.

scholarly journals Candidate Selection and the Electoral Prospects of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) In Nigeria: 1999-2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-93
Author(s):  
Alfa Patrick Innocent ◽  
Otaida Eikojonwa
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Federal Republic ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Selection Procedures ◽  
Opposition Party ◽  
Secondary Method

Objective: The essence of this article is to examine the centrality of candidate selection in the changes in the electoral fortunes of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015.Methodology: This paper is qualitative and conceptual in nature. The issues were analysed under various related themes. The data were gathered through the secondary method such as textbooks, journal articles, reports of election observer teams, party constitutions, workshop papers, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) documents, the Electoral Acts and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The analysis of the information gathered helped to manifest the factors that were responsible for the electoral setbacks suffered by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which led to the triumph of the hitherto opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general elections.Results: The paper discovered that interferences and manipulation in the candidate selection procedures in particular and gross disregard for internal party democracy in the Peoples' Democratic Party led to its electoral misfortunes in the 2015 elections.Implication: The paper avers that political parties are fundamental elements in any democratic setting, but for them to retain and boost their electoral chances they must adopt a transparent candidate selection process and adhere to the other tenets of internal party democracy.

Activity of modern right-wing radical parties in the Czech Republic

2019 ◽  
pp. 164-173
Author(s):  
Tetiana Fedorchak
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Political Radicalism

The author investigates political radicalism in the Czech Republic, a rather heterogeneous current considering the structure of participants: from political parties to the extremist organizations. The peculiarity of the Czech party system is the existence, along with typical radical parties, of other non-radical parties whose representatives support xenophobic, nationalist and anti-Islamic statements. This is primarily the Civil Democratic Party, known for its critical attitude towards European integration, and the Communist party of the Czech Republic and Moravia, which opposes Czech membership in NATO and the EU. Among the Czech politicians, who are close to radical views, analysts include the well-known for its anti-Islamic position of the Czech President M. Zeman and the leader of the movement ANO, billionaire A. Babich. Voters vote for them not because their economic or social programs are particularly attractive to the electorate, but because of dissatisfaction with the economic situation in the state. Almost all right populist parties oppose European integration, interpreting it as an anti-national project run by an elite distorted by a deficit of democracy and corruption. Keywords: Czech Republic, right-wing radical political parties, European integration, nationalism.

Informal Institutions and Women’s Political Representation in Chile (1990–2015)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Franceschet
Keyword(s):  
Political Representation ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
Women's Ministry ◽  
Gender Parity ◽  
Formal And Informal Institutions ◽  
Electoral Reforms ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Gender Quota ◽  
Female President ◽  
Elected Office

Despite electing a female president, Michelle Bachelet, and at one point achieving gender parity in cabinet appointments, women’s presence in Chile’s national congress remains small, is only slightly higher at local levels, and is extremely limited among party and coalition leaders. In her gendered analysis of representation, Susan Franceschet argues this is because of the strong formal and informal institutions that limit the size of electoral districts, require large thresholds to win seats, and require coalition negotiation over candidates for elected office. Even though women have a mixed record of representation, their presence has had important policy consequences. A gender-focused presidency has been critical for passage of gender-attentive policies. Women in Chile’s legislative arenas have been more likely to bring gender issues to the agenda. Franceschet points out that Sernam, the women’s ministry, has played a critically important role in this. The electoral reforms approved by congress in 2015 include a gender quota, creating expectations that improvements will continue.

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