Candidate Selection in Germany: Local and Regional Party Elites Still in Control?
Abstract
In comparative terms, the strong legal regulation of internal party processes is a specific feature of the German party democracy. Local and regional party conventions are the formal sites of decision making in selecting parliamentary candidates. The national party level is relatively excluded from the procedures. The article argues that the decentralization of intraparty competences has facilitated a gatekeeping role for local and regional party elites. At the constituency level, most often a single candidate is presented to the party convention after he or she has been appointed in the informal preselection activities of local party elites. Gaining a local nomination is the crucial step for obtaining a federal parliamentary mandate, either by winning a direct constituency mandate or being awarded a safe list position. At the regional level, Land party elites are in control of producing balanced party lists. The article also looks at newer developments, such as the introduction of party primaries and gender quotas. It shows that these developments have somehow weakened, but not fundamentally altered, the predominance of subnational party elites in candidate selection.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
References
Bille L. (2001). Democratizing a democratic procedure: Myth or reality? Candidate selection in Western European parties, 1960-1990. Party Politics, 7, 363-380.
Borchert J., Stolz K. (2011). German political careers: The state level as an arena in its own right? Regional and Federal Studies, 21, 205-222.
Bukow S. (2014). Die SPD-Parteiorganisationsreform 2009-2011: Mit Primaries und verstärkter Basisbeteiligung auf dem Weg zur modernsten Partei Europas? [The SPD party organisational reform 2009-2011: do primaries and more inclusion of the party on the ground pave the way towards the most modern party in Europe?]. In Münch U., Kranenpohl U., Gast H. (Eds.), Parteien und Demokratie: Innerparteiliche Demokratie im Wandel [Parties and democracy: changes in intra-party democracy] (pp. 133-150). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos.
Bukow S., Poguntke T. (2013). Innerparteiliche Organisation und Willensbildung [Intra-party organisation and decision-making]. In Niedermayer O. (Ed.), Handbuch Parteienforschung [Handbook on party research] (pp. 179-209). Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer VS.
Detterbeck K. (2012). Multi-level party politics in Western Europe. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Detterbeck K. (2013). The rare event of choice: Party primaries in German Land parties. German Politics, 22, 270-287.
Detterbeck K., Rohlfing I. (2014). Party leader selection in Germany. In Pilet J.-B., Cross W. (Eds.), The selection of political party leaders in contemporary parliamentary democracies (pp. 77-92). Abingdon, England: Routledge.
Deutscher Bundestag. (2014). Datenhandbuch zum Deutschen Bundestag [Data handbook on the German Bundestag/Federal parliament]. Berlin, Germany: Author.
Farrell D. (2001). Electoral systems: A comparative introduction. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gallagher M. (1988). Introduction. In Gallagher M., Marsh M. (Eds.), Candidate selection in comparative perspective: The secret garden of politics (pp. 1-9). London, England: Sage.
Hazan R., Rahat G. (2010). Democracy within parties: Candidate selection methods and their political consequences. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Hennl A. (2014). Intra-party dynamics in mixed-member electoral systems: How strategies of candidate selection impact parliamentary behavior. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 26, 93-116.
Höhne B. (2010). Strukturmuster, Selektionsprämissen und Resultate von Kandidatenaufstellungen zu Bundestags- und Europawahlen in Deutschland [Structures, selection patterns of candidate selection in Bundestag and European elections in Germany]. In Jun U., Höhne B. (Eds.), Parteien als fragmentierte Organisationen [Parties as fragmented organisations] (pp. 85-122). Leverkusen, Germany: Barbara Budrich.
Höhne B. (2013). Reform von Kandidatenaufstellungen: Fehlende Realisierungspotenziale in Parteien [Reform of candidate nomination: failing to materialize]. In Niedermayer O., Höhne B., Jun U. (Eds.), Abkehr von den Parteien? Parteiendemokratie und Bürgerprotest [Deserting parties? Party democracy and citizen’s protest] (pp. 177-203). Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer VS.
Kaack H. (1969). Wer kommt in den Bundestag? Abgeordnete und Kandidaten 1969 [Who gets into the Bundestag? Deputies and candidates 1969]. Leverkusen, Germany: Leske.
Katz R., Mair P. (1995). Changing models of party organization and party democracy: The emergence of the cartel party. Party Politics, 1, 5-28.
Leunig S. (2012). Die Regierungssysteme der deutschen Länder [The systems of government in the German Länder/states]. Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer VS.
Mair P. (1997). Party system change: Approaches and interpretations. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Padgett S. (1994). The German Social Democratic Party: Between old and new left. In Bell D., Shaw E. (Eds.), Conflict and cohesion in Western European Social Democratic Parties (pp. 10-30). London, England: Sage.
Poguntke T. (1994). Parties in a legalistic culture: The case of Germany. In Katz R., Mair P. (Eds.), How parties organize: Change and adaptation in party organizations in Western democracies (pp. 185-215). London, England: Sage.
Rahat G., Hazan R. (2001). Candidate selection methods: An analytical framework. Party Politics, 7, 297-322.
Reiser M. (2011). Wer entscheidet unter welchen Bedingungen über die Nominierung von Kandidaten? Die innerparteilichen Selektionsprozesse zur Aufstellung in den Wahlkreisen [Who decides according to which criteria on candidate selection? The intra-party selection mechanismes on constituency level]. In Niedermayer O. (Ed.), Die Parteien nach der Bundestagswahl 2009 [The parties after the Bundstag elections of 2009] (pp. 237-259). Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer VS.
Reiser M. (2013). Ausmaß und Formen des innerparteilichen Wettbewerbs auf der Wahlkreisebene: Nominierung der Direktkandidaten für die Bundestagswahl 2009 [Forms and degree of intra-party competition at constituency level: nominating the constituency candidates for the Bundestag elections of 2009]. In Faas T., Arzheimer K., Roßteuscher S., Weßels B. (Eds.), Koalitionen, Kandidaten, Kommunikation [Coalitions, candidates, communication] (pp. 129-147). Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer VS.
Roberts G. (1988). The German Federal Republic: The two-lane route to Bonn. In Gallagher M., Marsh M. (Eds.), Candidate selection in comparative perspective: The secret garden of politics (pp. 94-118). London, England: Sage.
Schüttemeyer S. (1999). Fraktionen und ihre Parteien in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Veränderte Beziehungen im Zeichen professioneller Politik [Parliamentary groups and their parties in the Federal Republic of Germany: changing relations in the sign of professional politics]. In Helms L. (Ed.), Parteien und Fraktionen [Parties and parliamentary groups] (pp. 39-65). Leverkusen, Germany: Leske + Budrich.
Schüttemeyer S., Sturm R. (2005). Der Kandidat—das (fast) unbekannte Wesen [The candidate - the (nearly) unknown beast]. Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen, 36, 539-553.
Statistisches Bundesamt. (2013). Die Wahlbewerber für die Wahl zum 18: Deutschen Bundestag 2013: Informationen des Bundeswahlleiters [The nominated candidates for the elections of the 18th German Bundestag 2013: Informations of the Bundeswahlleiter/the Federal Elections Officer]. Wiesbaden, Germany: Author.
Turner E., Wigbers D. (2014). Ambitionierte Zielsetzung, unzureichende Realisierung? Reform der Kandidatenauswahl in Großbritannien und Deutschland [Ambitious goals, unsatisfaying results? Reforming candidate selection in Great Britain and Germany]. In Münch U., Kranenpohl U., Gast H. (Eds.), Parteien und Demokratie: Innerparteiliche Demokratie im Wandel [Parties and democracy: changes in intra-party democracy] (pp. 57-74). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos.
Zeuner B. (1973). Wahlen ohne Auswahl: Die Kandidatenaufstellung zum Bundestag [Elections without choice: Bundestag candidate selection]. In Steffani W. (Ed.), Parlamentarismus ohne Transparenz [Parliamentarism without transparency] (pp. 165-190). Opladen, Germany: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Biographies
Klaus Detterbeck is professor at the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. His areas of expertise are party politics, federalism, and European integration. He has been coconvenor of the ECPR Standing Group on Federalism and Regionalism. Among his most recent publications are Parties and Civil Society in Federal Systems with Wolfgang Renzsch (2015, Oxford University Press), Multi-Level Party Politics in Western Europe (2012, Palgrave Macmillan), Parteien und Parteiensystem (2011, UVK Verlag), and Föderalismus in Deutschland with Wolfgang Renzsch and Stefan Schieren (2010, OldenbourgVerlag).
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published online: February 22, 2016
Issue published: June 2016
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Journals metrics
This article was published in American Behavioral Scientist.
VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICSArticle usage*
Total views and downloads: 1001
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 18 view articles Opens in new tab
Crossref: 22
-
The informal rules of candidate selection and their impact on intra-pa...
-
Who Runs for Higher Office? Electoral Institutions and L...
-
Power-seeking, networking and competition: why women do not rise in pa...
-
What drives the intra-party democracy of the “Alternative for Germany”...
-
Inclusivity and Decentralisation of Candidate Selectorates: Factional ...
-
Local preferences in candidate selection: Evidence from a conjoint exp...
-
Digitalization in Candidate Selection. Support and Resistance Within E...
-
Strategies of the Party Selectorate: The Two-Level Game in District Se...
-
More free-floating, less outward-looking: How more inclusive candidate...
-
How Democracy Works within a Populist Party: Candidate Selection in th...
-
Digging in the ‘Secret Garden of Politics’: The Institutionalisation a...
-
Mandate type, electoral safety, and defections from the party line: Th...
-
More federal legislators lead to more resources for their constituenci...
-
No Need for Wider Selectorates? Party Members’ Preferences for Reformi...
-
MPs’ principals and the substantive representation of disadvantaged im...
-
MPs’ Representational Focus in MMP Systems. A Comparison Between Germa...
-
Productivity and Reselection in a Party-based Environment: Evidence fr...
-
Representing the Region on the Floor: Socioeconomic Characteristics of...
-
Erststimmen generierende Merkmale der Direktkandidaten bei Bundestagsw...
-
Who is recruiting our crew? Contextual determinants of MPS’ selection
-
Keeping One’s Seat: The Competitiveness of MP Renomination in Mixed-Me...
-
Wie stellen Parteien ihre Parlamentsbewerber auf?
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
