Democracy within Parties Candidate Selection Methods and their Political Consequences

Elections are central to democracy, but the electoral game takes place in two arenas, not only between parties but also within them. This pioneering book, by the leading scholars on the topic, is a culmination of two decades of research. It presents a new approach to understanding political parties, sheds light on their inner workings and offers the first comprehensive analysis of the way parties choose their candidates for public office. Candidate selection is,after all, the function that separates parties from other organizations. This book defines the field of candidate selection, provides a framework for its future analysis by scholars and analyses the consequences of different candidate selection methods on democracy. It is based on empirical datagathered from dozens of countries. The book explains which candidate selection method is best for democracy and addresses the question 'Can too much participation harm democracy?'

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.