Does the Institutional Context Matter for Candidate Selection? Some Evidence from Slovenia

In: Politologický časopis, Band 14, Heft 3, S. 187-204

Abstract

In the article we test certain political scientists' findings about the influence of various institutional contexts on different candidate-selection arrangements for elections, using the case of Slovenia. Specifically, we examine the 2004 elections to both the national parliament and the European Parliament (EP), where different electoral systems were used. According to different political scientists, candidate selection for EP elections should be more decentralised. We also expected to reveal a higher level of democracy in the processes applied in Slovenian parliamentary parties for the EP elections than in those used for national parliamentary elections. An analysis of formal documents indicates only minor trends (in some parties) of greater centralisation and a lower level of democracy in candidate selection for EP elections compared to elections to the national parliament. Interviews with representatives from parties' selectors revealed a slightly different picture; some changes in all parties and somewhat bigger changes as well. Larger differences in the selection of candidates for both elections were only discovered in terms of the criteria the selectors employed. Nevertheless, it is hard to speak about the strong impact of different institutional contexts on the aforementioned aspects of candidate selection. Adapted from the source document.