Young blood: Needed or discarded? Untangling party strategies for the selection of young candidates

Abstract

Young people are three times more present in the population than in elected assemblies. Their critical underrepresentation has so far received much less scholarly attention than other well-studied social groups, despite, for instance, women being underrepresented in parliaments to a smaller extent. This research investigates the reasons why parties, usually pointed as those who can sway group representation in politics, do (not) select young people for parliamentary elections. In-depth interviews have been conducted with 32 key informants from 6 Belgian parties (CD&V, Ecolo, Groen, MR, PS, and Vlaams Belang) responsible for candidate selection in the Belgian PR electoral system. Our interviewees’ insights allow us to assess young candidates’ assets and flaws in terms of their electoral popularity, political skills, and ticket-balancing value. This study also sheds light on parties’ strategic candidate selection decisions regarding long-term people’s management and openness to youth wings’ lobbying efforts.