Candidate Selection: Explorations beyond the Secret Garden of Politics - The Case of Belgium

Candidate selection is often described as “the secret garden of politics” (Gallagher & Marsh, 1988). This research confirms this scholarly statement and even adds that the garden is full of “muddy waters”. We have studied the case of Belgian legislative elections of 2007, in particular selection for the Lower House. Our analyses show that candidate selection processes involve multiple (mostly collective) actors. Requirements for aspirant candidates are less strong than in the previous decades. Candidate selection actors are therefore freer when taking their decision about lists composition... Mehr ...