Candidate Selection, Personalization and Different Logics of Centralization in New Southern European Populism: The Cases of Podemos and the M5S

In this article, we focus on the candidate selection processes of Podemos in Spain and the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S – Five Star Movement) in Italy, processes which are related to intra-party democracy. With a mixed-methods approach (including novel data from the expert survey PoPES, 31 semi-structure...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Government and opposition (London) Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 404 - 427
Main Authors: Caiani, Manuela, Padoan, Enrico, Marino, Bruno
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.07.2022
Subjects:
Candidates
Centralization
Credentials
Customization
Decentralization
Democracy
Elections
Militancy
Organizational culture
Political activism
Political leadership
Political parties
Popes
Populism
Power
Sovereignty
Speeches
Statutes
Europe
Spain
intra-party democracy (IPD)
Southern European populism
centralization of power
interviews with militants and representatives
candidate selection
personalization of politics
ISSN:0017-257X, 1477-7053
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In this article, we focus on the candidate selection processes of Podemos in Spain and the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S – Five Star Movement) in Italy, processes which are related to intra-party democracy. With a mixed-methods approach (including novel data from the expert survey PoPES, 31 semi-structured interviews with party representatives and militants, and analysis of party documents, statutes and leader speeches) and a comparative perspective, we explore candidate selection in the context of the broader organizational party structures over time. We find that: (1) Podemos functions like a typical centralized party, whereas M5S is a deviant case with strong and centralized control over party organization but decentralized mechanisms for candidate selection; (2) both these logics of centralization of power undermine the parties’ democratic credentials but have different consequences in terms of cohesion (expulsions/departures in M5S and splintering in Podemos); and (3) in both cases, the parties’ organizational culture and symbolic tools legitimate their top-down features.
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ISSN:0017-257X
1477-7053
DOI:10.1017/gov.2021.9