Intra-party democracy entails different meanings. In particular when we consider democratic candidate selection processes, one may think about various elements contributing to the democratic character of the list constitution. By means of a content analysis, this paper aims at contrasting definitions given to intra-party democracy in terms of candidate selection by on the one hand scholars and on the other by political actors. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with key party actors conducted in the run-up to the 2014 elections in Belgium i.e. during the process of candidate selection. Eleven parties are covered in this paper. Findings confirm that the main dimensions of a democratic candidate selection process are the selectorates, the procedures and the outcome. Nevertheless, the inclusiveness does not appear to be as important as presented in the literature. Overall the paper contributes to the ongoing debate about what intraparty democracy means.