Abstract
Party organisations play a key role in managing diversity in governance. Their unique function of selecting and nominating candidates for elected office makes them important gatekeepers for diversity in representative institutions. Parties’ internal candidate-selection processes shape which perspectives, experiences, and opinions are represented in political decision-making bodies. Closing representational gaps for historically underrepresented groups has proven to be a persistent challenge. Today, however, diversity, such as minority and immigrant representation, is increasingly an integrated concern in parties’ electoral strategies. This paper examines whether and how parties alter their selectoral processes in order to enhance diversity in elected office. Our empirical study focuses on three Swedish parties: the Liberals, the Green Party, and the Social Democratic Party. Using a qualitative approach, we map these parties’ nomination routines, reforms, and motivations, providing insights beyond their formal structures and rules. The main findings show that party organisations, while balancing trade-offs between internal unity and elctoral success, strive to empower their selectorates to advance diversity. Sweden offers a particularly interesting empirical case: it strong legacy of egalitarian values and its electoral system with semi-closed-lists create a dynamic and favourable context for addressing representational gaps.
Presenters
Maritta SoininenProfessor, Political Science, Stockholm University, Stockholms län, Sweden
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Community Diversity and Governance
KEYWORDS
DIVERSITY GAPS, REPRESENTATION, PARTY ORGANISATIONS, CANDIDATE NOMINATION
