The literature on party organization has been documenting a
democratisation pattern in many of the western political parties.
These changes are having effects in the way parties select their
leaders, choose their electoral candidates and elaborate their party
manifestos. The introduction of (open or closed) primaries in the
candidate and leadership selection has been, in this sense, one of the
key milestones of this process (Scarrow et. Alt, 2000; LeDuc, 2001;
Scarrow and Kittilson, 2006; Kenig 2009; Rahat and Hazan, 2010; Cross
and Blais, 2011).
Despite the growing (non USA) literature on the topic, neither the
causes nor the effects of this democratization pattern are yet fully
understood. This paper will contribute to this debate assessing the
effects of the introduction of party primaries in Spain. Following the
frameworks developed by Kenig (2008, 2009), Rahat and Hazan (2010) and
Sandri, Seddone and Venturino (2012), the paper will try to establish
the internal and external impact of primaries in the Spanish parties.
In the internal dimension the paper will examine the outcome produced
in factors like the competitiveness of the election, the
participation, the representation and the cohesion. Regarding the
external dimension the focus will be centered in analyzing questions
such as the electoral performance, the party image, and the broader
impact on the political system.
The paper will analyse the party primaries held in Spain and Portugal
to select the party leader at both the national and the regional
level.
