Democracy within Parties: Candidate Selection Methods and Their Political Consequences(Comparative Politics)

Can too much participation harm democracy? Democratic theory places great importance upon the conduct of elections, but it is not often recognized that the electoral game takes place in two arenas, not only between parties but also within them. This pioneering book presents a new approach to understanding political parties. It sheds light on the inner dynamics of party politics and offers the first comprehensive analysis of one of the most important processes any party undertakes - its process of candidate selection. Candidate selection methods are the mechanisms by which a party chooses its candidates for the general elections. It may be the function that separates parties from other organizations. For such an important function, this field has certainly faced a dearth of serious investigation. Hazan and Rahat, the leading scholars on this topic, conduct an in-depth analysis of the consequences of different candidate selection methods on democracy. This book is a culmination of almost two decades of research and defines the field of candidate selection. Part I of the book delineates candidate selection methods based on four major dimensions: candidacy; the selectorate; decentralization; and voting versus appointment systems. Part II analyses the political consequences of using different candidate selection methods according to four important aspects of democracy: participation; representation; competition; and responsiveness. The book ends with a proposed candidate selection method that optimally balances all four of the democratic aspects concurrently, and answers the question 'Is the most participatory candidate selection method necessarily the best one for democracy?' Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr The General Editor is Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin.

Table of Contents:
1: What is candidate selection and why is it important for understanding politics? 2: Candidacy 3: The selectorate 4: Decentralization 5: Appointment and voting systems 6: Participation 7: Representation 8: Competition 9: Responsiveness 10: Candidate selection, political parties, and democracy Index

About the Author :
Reuven Y. Hazan is a Professor in the Political Science Department at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests cover parties and party systems, elections and electoral systems, and legislative studies. His publications include articles in Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, International Political Science Review, Journal of Legislative Studies, Journal of Theoretical Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Party Politics, Political Geography and various other journals. Gideon Rahat is a Senior Lecturer in the Political Science Department at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests include political parties, candidate selection methods, electoral systems and the politics of electoral reform. He has written or collaborated on articles that appeared in Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, Electoral Studies, Journal of Democracy, Party Politics, Political Communication, Political Studies and several other journals.

Review :
a much-needed study for modern democracy. In this valuable book, Reuven Hazan and Gideon Rahat explore the "secret garden" of intra-party candidate selection methods with precision and insight. As their extensive bibliography attests, this subject is not a new one for research. But our knowledge of it is far too limited. This volume takes a significant step towards greater understanding Hazan and Rahat give us the first systematic framework for describing and analyzing candidate selection methods within political parties. Following in the tradition of Schattschneider, Dahl, and Sartori, they also give us a powerful corrective to the mantra that more internal democracy will automatically both reverse party decline and improve democracy at the system level. Compared with the dramatic hoop-la of election campaigns, the prior process of nominating candidates has long remained hidden. But this process is also vital - for voter choice, inclusive parliaments, and democracy. This insightful and original study compares candidate selection across multiple democracies and provides fresh insights into why it matters. If "democracy is unthinkable save in terms of the parties" (Schattschneider), we need more knowledge about one critical partisan function: selecting candidates. Hazan and Rahat's book is an essential contribution to our understanding of this underappreciated aspect of political parties.