The influence of candidate selection methods on legislatures and legislators: Theoretical propositions, methodological suggestions and empirical evidence

TLDR

Candidate selection methods shape the internal composition of legislatures and influence legislators’ behavior by imposing distinct institutional constraints. The article seeks to examine how these methods affect legislative makeup and conduct, proposing hypotheses and a methodological framework to test their impact. It defines candidate selection mechanisms, identifies the selectorate as the key differentiator, and outlines a measurement approach for assessing their legislative consequences. Empirical data illustrating the influence of candidate selection methods are presented in the final section.

Abstract

This article focuses on an external institution that moulds the internal composition of legislatures and influences the behaviour of its members – the candidate selection method. More specifically, different candidate selection methods place different institutional constraints on legislators. Legislative performance is, therefore, directly influenced by particular factors in the candidate selection method. The first section of this article explains what candidate selection methods are, and why this institution is important for the study of politics in general and legislative politics in particular. The second section presents the main distinctive factor in candidate selection methods, the selectorate. The third section suggests hypotheses regarding the impact of this central element in candidate selection methods on the makeup of legislatures and the behaviour of legislators. The fourth section proposes a methodology for implementing the new perspective suggested here by offering various measurements for assessing the legislative consequences of candidate selection methods. The final section presents the empirical data that are available.