Party Sovereignty and Citizen Control Selecting Candidates for Parliamentary Elections in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway

by Narud, Hanne Marthe; Pedersen, Mogens N.; Valen, Henry

• ISBN13: 9788778386922
• ISBN10: 8778386926
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-31
• Publisher: University Press of Southern Denmark

Summary

The process by which candidates for election are being screened and selected is among the least understood and researched political phenomena, even though this process is so closely linked to the power structure within political parties. In this book, nomination processes in four Nordic countries are analyzed and evaluated as instruments of democracy. The authors compare institutions, procedures and unwritten norms. The book in particular addresses questions about the citizens' ability to influence the nomination processes. The process is not only modeled in traditional terms of representation, but also as a principal-agent relationship.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 7
Parliamentary Nominations in Western Democracies
Introduction	p. 9
The Process of Nominations	p. 11
The Role of Nominations in the Chain of Parliamentary Delegation	p. 16
Bringing the Perspectives together	p. 19
Research Questions	p. 21
Plan of the Book	p. 25
Denmark: The Interplay of Nominations and Elections in Danish Politics
Introduction	p. 29
The early history of nominations and elections	p. 30
An illustration from the 1998 election	p. 34
The role of the state	p. 37
The role of the parties	p. 38
Who are the candidates?	p. 43
Proper behavior during the electoral campaign	p. 45
The changing role of the voters	p. 47
A special case: the increasing success rate of female candidates	p. 54
Turnover and recruitment	p. 58
Concluding comments	p. 60
Finland: Formalized Procedures with Member Predominance
Introduction	p. 63
The nomination system	p. 65
The role of the party	p. 71
Criteria for candidate selection	p. 78
Sanctions and rewards	p. 92
Conclusions	p. 100
Iceland: From Party Rule to Pluralist Political Society
Introduction	p. 107
The nomination system	p. 110
Sanctions and rewards	p. 138
Nomination method, turnover and main characteristics of MPs: The question of causation	p. 153
Conclusions	p. 161
Norway: Party Dominance and Decentralized Decision-Making
Introduction	p. 169
The new system	p. 174
The organizational process	p. 177
Candidate selection	p. 183
Sanctions and rewards	p. 202
Nominations and the electorate	p. 210
Conclusions	p. 214
Conclusions
The institutional setting	p. 217
How are nominations organized?	p. 218
What are the mechanisms for screening?	p. 219
What is the outcome of the screening process?	p. 222
What is the level of parliamentary turnover?	p. 223
The multi-leveled network of principals and agents	p. 224
Citizen control over candidate selection	p. 226
Notes	p. 229
References	p. 237
Contributors	p. 246
Index	p. 247
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