In its first research project, IParl is analysing the candidate line-up for the 2017 Bundestag elections in the CDU, CSU, SPD, DIE LINKE and BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN, FDP and AfD Bundestag parties.
Quantitative and qualitative methods of empirical political research will be used to find out how the nomination procedures are organised, who runs for office, who decides on the chances of success of a candidacy, which criteria play a role in the nominations, whether and how recruitment differs between and within the parties.
Further information on the study design and detailed methodological reports can be found at here.
To date, the following publications have been published as part of the project:
Digitalisation in Candidate Selection. Support and Resistance Within Established Political Parties in Germany, by Claire Bloquet, Isabelle Borucki and Benjamin Höhne
The digitalisation of human life has had an impact on many aspects of politics over the last two decades. Internal party decision-making is one of them. So far, however, too little is known about how internal party selectors evaluate the digitalisation of important decision-making processes. Claire Bloquet, Isabelle Borucki and Benjamin Höhne ask whether party members who take part in the candidate nomination process support online consultations - or not.
The article was published in: Frontiers, online first, 2022.
How Democracy Works within a Populist Party: Candidate Selection in the Alternative for Germany, by Benjamin Höhne
In the journal "Government & Opposition", Benjamin Höhne analyses the AfD's intra-party democracy (IPD) in a party comparison. Using a broad empirical basis from the #BuKa2017 project and measurement methods he developed himself, he shows that the AfD has a "competitive IPD". This is much more pronounced than in the other six Bundestag parties, even in comparison to the participation-orientated Alliance Greens.
The article was published in: Government & Opposition, online first, 2021.
District candidacies for the German Bundestag: what spurs or hampers intra-party competition?, by Danny Schindler, Anastasia Pyschny and Malte Cordes
What increases or reduces competition when nominating candidates? Our new article provides answers: Competitive nomination meetings are more likely to take place if the candidacy is vacant, the party is not (yet) in the Bundestag or the constituency consists of several party associations. Interestingly, the voters want more competitive voting. The activities of the party leadership partly contribute to candidates dropping out in advance.
The article was published in: The Journal of Legislative Studies, online first, 2021.
So close and yet so far? What can be done after the (temporary) failure of parity laws, by Benjamin Höhne and Svenja Samstag
In the 2021 Bundestag election campaign, the Green Party's candidate for chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, stands out due to one characteristic - her gender. The fact that this is the case speaks for the unbroken effectiveness of traditional gender roles. This spotlight examines how the question of gender equality in parliaments can be answered in the future. Now that parity laws have failed for the time being, other approaches are needed. The ball is back in the political parties' court. There is widespread awareness of the problem within the parties. With the exception of the AfD, every party in the Bundestag is in favour of gender balance on the lists. There is no lack of implementation options, starting with the voluntary women's quota. However, voters can also weigh in on the issue of parliamentary representation of women. All they have to do is put their weight behind it in the upcoming federal elections in September.
The article was published as: IParl Blickpunkt No. So nah und doch so fern? Was nach dem (vorläufigen) Scheitern von Paritätsgesetzen getan werden kann.
Konvergenz oder Divergenz? Einstellungen von Parteimitgliedern und Partizipation bei Bundestagswahlen im Ost-West-Vergleich, by Benjamin Höhne
Benjamin Höhne examines the state of political unity in an article for the special issue of the journal Recht und Politik (RuP) on the topic of "30 Years of German Unity". He analyses the attitudes of active party members from a cross-sectional perspective, on which there have been hardly any representative studies with an East-West focus to date. In a longitudinal analysis, he compares voting behaviour in the Bundestag between 1990 and 2017. His findings show the "continuation of a weakened difference between newer and older federal states".
The article was published in: Recht und Politik, Supplement 8: 30 Years of German Unity, edited by Markus Ludwigs and Stefanie Schmahl, 2021, pp. 73-91.
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