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Richard S. Katz, "The Problem of Candidate Selection and
Models of Party Democracy," Party Politics, 7 (May
2001), 277-296.
First Paragraph:
Candidate selection is a vital activity in the life of any
political party. It is the primary screening device in the
process through which the party in public office is
reproduced. As such, it raises central questions about the
ideological and sociological identities of the party as a
whole. Moreover, because different modes of selection are
likely to privilege different elements of the party and
different types of candidates, they may raise questions
about the nature of the party as an organization as
well.
Figures and
Tables:
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Last Paragraph:
At the same time, the argument advanced here suggests that,
contrary to the 'elitist' models, one may not be able to
rely on the desire of politicians to win elections to induce
them to perform their democratic functions. If one could,
then the additional constraints imposed on politicians by
internal party would be dysfunctional for the system as a
whole. But if, as the cartel party model suggests,
politicians attempt to secure their own welfare through
'restraint of trade' rather than through competition, then
the constraints imposed by internal party democracy (such as
limiting strategic and ideological flexibility and ability
to respond to changing circumstances, but also forcing
leaders to attend to salient issues and forcing closer
correspondence between rhetoric in campaigns and behavior in
office) may result in a 'better' democracy at the system
level than any available alternative.
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