Candidate Selection, Personalization and Different Logics of Centralization in New Southern European Populism: The Cases of Podemos and the M5S. Issue 3 (8th July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Caiani, Manuela; Padoan, Enrico; Marino, Bruno
• Is Part Of: Government and opposition. Volume 57:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 404
• Page End: 427
• Publication Date: 2022-07-08
• Subjects: candidate selection -- personalization of politics -- intra-party democracy (IPD) -- Southern European populism -- centralization of power -- interviews with militants and representatives; Political science -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1017/gov.2021.9
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0017-257X

Abstract

Abstract: 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.