Ambitious young conservatives: How party ideology affects policy and office motivations

The question of whether parties are primarily teams of policy-seekers or office-seekers has long been debated by political scientists. However, we know little about party grassroots members’ policy-seeking and office-seeking motivations and if they vary according to party ideology. We examine this question by looking at people who join the youth wings of mainstream parties. Using an original survey of over 4,000 members from center-left and center-right youth wings in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, we find that, while there is little difference between the two party families as regards the importance of policy-seeking for young members, those in center-right youth wings are significantly more likely to have joined with a view to standing for office. Our results have implications not only for debates about the policy and office orientations of parties, but also for discussions about how major parties resemble one another.