Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/305375 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Politische Vierteljahresschrift [ISSN:] 1862-2860 [Volume:] 65 [Issue:] 1 [Publisher:] Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH [Place:] Wiesbaden [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 49-70
Publisher: 
Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Wiesbaden
Abstract: 
Membership ballots have gained increasing popularity for party leadership selection around the globe. Still, our understanding of why parties use primaries is limited. This is due to two shortcomings of existing research: First, previous research has failed to satisfactorily operationalise subjective concepts such as electoral defeat. Second, quantitative studies cannot account for causal complexity. Thus, to uncover the puzzle of why parties use party primaries, this article pursues a novel approach. I offer new insights by using theory-testing process tracing to uncover the complex causal mechanisms that explain the use of membership ballots, taking Germany as an example. In the four cases studied, I find that it is a combination of an electoral shock, internal conflict, and instrumental motives that explain the decision to hold a primary for party leadership selection.
Subjects: 
Party primaries
Membership ballots
Party leaders
Process tracing
Causal mechanisms
Urwahlen
Mitgliederbefragung
Parteivorsitzende
Process-Tracing
Kausale Mechanismen
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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