In the face of the trend toward more participatory candidate nomination methods, studies increasingly focus on its consequences for the selection outcome. Yet, this string of literature has brought to light some inconsistent findings. They do not surprise given the complexity of selection decisions and the dependence of nomination results on the set of who is running for a candidacy. Drawing on representative survey data collected before the 2017 Bundestag election, the article looks at the potential implications of different procedures by examining how the selection criteria of membership and delegate conferences vary. It shows that both selectorate types differ as to process-related selection criteria but less regarding candidate-related features. More specifically, membership conferences can be associated with more open decisions as their participants attach less importance to coordination mechanisms like leadership proposals. At the same time, they less consider the external consequences of their choices since criteria that increase a candidate’s chances to enter parliament play a smaller role than among delegates. The study points to implications of inclusive procedures which might not be desired by the party leadership and may not serve the party’s electoral interests in the worst case.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.