Online primaries and intra-party democracy: Candidate selection processes in Podemos and the Five Star Movement

Abstract

Online primaries are widely considered as the most inclusive and accessible form of intra-party decision-making. However, their openness also carries the risk of strengthening parties’ leadership vis-à-vis other organizational units. In order to test the implications of these procedures on intra-party democracy, this paper addresses the candidate selection processes of two parties that rely exclusively on online primaries: Podemos and the Five Star Movement. The analysis combines two perspectives: first, it describes the rules of candidate selection processes in each party based on party statutes and other party documents, and second, it tracks the progression of candidates through all stages of the candidate selection process during the 2013 Italian and the 2015 Spanish general elections on the one hand, and the 2014 European Parliament elections on the other. Based on these two perspectives, the cases are classified along the four dimensions established by Rahat and Hazan (2001): candidacy, selectorate, decentralization and voting/appointment systems. The findings indicate that contrary to expectations, the candidate selection processes were more tightly controlled in Podemos, primarily through the adoption of block voting that favoured lists headed and supported by the party leader. Moreover, Podemos’ lists of candidates were substantially modified after the primaries, a pattern not found in M5S. However, due to the tight restrictions on eligibility and the lack of availability of information regarding the voting rules applied in the candidate selection process, the Five Star Movement scores worse on inclusiveness and transparency, which also raises concerns regarding the competitiveness of the contest.