Selection of candidates and internal democracy in political parties in Latin America

Selection of candidates and internal democracy in political parties in Latin America

Because a political party’s electoral success and representativeness depend on its selection of candidates for public office, this is one of the most important decisions that a political group can make. The selection process itself reveals a great deal about parties’ internal dynamics and organizational strategies and has implications for party cohesion and the performance of the political system. The way in which candidates are chosen also signals the degree of participation and internal democracy that exist within parties.

Despite its importance, there has been little study of the candidate selection process in Latin America. This groundbreaking work is an effort to fill that gap, although the author notes that further study is needed to refine the relationships among the variables discussed.

The text is divided into four parts: 

• An analytical framework for classification to facilitate an understanding of the various mechanisms that parties use to select candidates.
•  Analysis of the various factors that can condition candidate selection and the use of these mechanisms. 
• Examination of the methods that 44 parties in 16 Latin American countries use to select their presidential candidates. 
• The degree of inclusion or centralization implied by these processes, which leads to a discussion of the level of internal democracy in the parties.