Effects of party primaries on electoral performance

Abstract

One of the most relevant aspects of party democratization is the consequence of more inclusive methods of candidate selection, and particularly of primaries, for party competition. Despite its relevance, and contrary to the attention it has received in the US, the electoral consequences of primaries have rarely been analysed in Europe. This article assesses whether the use of one member one vote (OMOV) primaries for candidate selection affects the electoral result of the party and, if it does, in what direction. The article contributes to our still limited knowledge of this aspect of European party politics with an analysis of the use of closed party primaries by the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and their effects on its electoral performance in local elections. With an analysis of the electoral performance of the PSOE in municipalities of 10,000 inhabitants or more for the 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 local elections, the article shows that OMOV primaries have, overall, positive electoral payoffs but also that their effects can vary.

Party’s presidential primaries and the consolidation of democracy in Ghana’s 4th Republic

“…Some political parties across the globe realising the importance of wide party membership have replaced closed primary elections with core or ordinary group member participation, thus One-Member-One-Vote (OMOV) to address the challenge of nepotism, cronyism, and political patronage. This approach solidifies internal party democratic politics (De Luca & Venturino, 2017;Ramiro, 2016).…”

“…According to Faucher (2015), political parties in United Kingdom (UK) and France have disposedoff constrictions relating to party membership with the use of primaries as engagement mechanisms with new members. According to Ramiro (2016), in his study of PSOE, a Socialist Spanish party; he indicated that an OMOV primary had a positive relationship on its electoral outcomes especially at the local level politics. Better electoral results were recorded by an average of 1.7 points of votes as a result of wide membership base.…”

“…It is of this negative image of primaries that PSOE in Spain and Green party in Germany were reluctant in pursuing this candidate selection method in its local elections. The Green party in Germany withdrew all membership congregations to a delegate form of assembly (Ramiro, 2016;Scarrow, 2005). Hazan et al (2010) argue that inclusive membership in primaries has an effect on quality participation with the influx of passive and uninformed members who may not have any affection for the party.…”

“…Again, a sequence of primaries may cripple party's finances especially when the time frame of primary and general elections are distant. It becomes difficult for parties to keep electoral promises (Ramiro, 2016).…”