Do different candidate selection methods produce different types of candidates? : An analysis of the German case

Abstract

Recently, the political consequences of different types of candidate selection methods have been studied in various ways. The impact of selection methods on the representativeness of parliaments in terms of gender or immigrant origin, however, still remains poorly addressed in this literature. Moreover, the existing studies so far have come to inconclusive results. Starting from the assumption that the type of selectorate produces the most important political consequences, this chapter analyses for the German case whether more exclusive selectorates are detrimental or beneficial to the nomination of female candidates and candidates of immigrant origin. Based on original data from the district and party list nominations for the 2013 legislative elections, the results indicate that female or immigrant origin candidates have neither a lower nor a higher chance of being nominated in the district, depending on whether they face an exclusive or inclusive selectorate. In the case of party lists, a negative effect of more exclusive selectorates on the share of female and immigrant-origin candidates was observed. However, this effect seems to be caused more by party ideology than by type of selectorate, because after controlling for party, the effect loses its statistical significance.