The selection of party leaders in Spain

Abstract

Abstract. Few parties apart from the PSOE have enjoyed stable and cohesive leaderships. A comparison between the PSOE and the AP/PP shows how much more stable the experience of the former has been. Both elect leaders at delegate congesses, although in practice there is little real involvement by rank and file members. Political culture, cleavages and the role of TV all account for this instability.

Hard acts to follow

“…The great majority of studies that deal with the succession of party leaders in democratic systems examine the effects of institutional rules of leadership selection and removal on leadership survival. Many such studies also assess the pros and cons on different leader selection and removal mechanisms from a number of different perspectives, and examine the impacts of recent institutional changes that have taken place within many parties (Colomé and Lopez Nieto, 1993;Courtney, 1995;Davis, 1998;Kenig, 2009;LeDuc, 2001;Marsh, 1993;Quinn, 2004Quinn, , 2005Stark, 1996;Strøm, 1993;Weller, 1983Weller, , 1994. Other empirical studies concentrate on explaining the dynamics of particular types of successions, such as voluntary or 'managed' handovers from an incumbent to an heir apparent (Bynander and 't Hart, 2006, 2007.…”