Do party youth organisations shape the profile of young political elites? Insights from Spain

Nowadays, only 5% of the members of parliaments in Europe are young (30 or under) (IPU 2023). Nonetheless, this does not seem to lessen political ambition among young party members. Recent research indicates around 69% of members of party youth organisations would like to stand as candidates at some point (Ammassari et al. 2022). While youth party organisations present a good opportunity for political socialisation and for developing a political career, not all party members that want to pursue a political career also join the party youth organisation. Indeed, some join the main party directly. We do not know what role the youth party organisation might play in fostering political ambition or shaping certain political attitudes among young party members and if they provide the best platform to pursue a political career. To understand better the role of youth party organisations in shaping future political elites, we compare the members of the youth party organisation of the Spanish People’s Party, NNGG, and the younger members of the main party. Identifying the potential differences in their motivations and political attitudes will help us understand if socialisation through the youth party organisation generates a different profile of future political elite than socialising through the main party. To do so, we surveyed party delegates attending the party conferences of NNGG in 2011 and PP in 2012 using the same questionnaire.