Candidate Selection: The Choice Before the Choice

Issue Date January 2007
Volume 18
Issue 1
Page Numbers 157-170
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The article provides an overview of intra-party candidate selection methods. It explains the significance of candidate selection and presents two main elements that distinguish between candidate selection methods: the inclusiveness of the selectorate and the level of their centralization. After examining the different methods used in several established and new democracies, it outlines their political consequences and suggests a way to design an optimally balanced method. Although methods of candidate selection have received surprisingly little study by political scientists, they merit the attention of students of democracy everywhere.

About the Author

Gideon Rahat is a lecturer in political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studies democratic institutions, political parties, and the politics of electoral reform. He has coauthored articles on candidate selection for Party Politics and the Journal of Legislative Studies.

View all work by Gideon Rahat