Candidate Recruitment and Selection in Latin America: A Framework for Analysis

Posted: 25 Jan 2016

See all articles by Scott J. Morgenstern

Scott J. Morgenstern

University of Pittsburgh - Department of Political Science

Peter Siavelis

Wake Forest University

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

This article provides a theoretical framework for analyzing the recruitment and selection of legislative candidates in Latin America. It argues that political recruitment and candidate selection are undertheorized for Latin America yet have determinative impacts on political systems, often overriding the influence of more commonly studied institutional variables. The article elucidates a typology of legislative candidates based on the legal and party variables that lead to the emergence of particular selection methods, as well as the patterns of loyalty generated by those methods. It analyzes the recruitment and selection processes as independent and dependent variables, underscoring the significant effect these procedures have on the incentive structure and subsequent behavior of legislators. Those factors, in turn, have important consequences for democratic governability and the performance of presidentialism.

Keywords: candidate recruitment, Latin America, legislatures, elections

Suggested Citation

Morgenstern, Scott J. and Siavelis, Peter, Candidate Recruitment and Selection in Latin America: A Framework for Analysis (2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2721454

Scott J. Morgenstern (Contact Author)

University of Pittsburgh - Department of Political Science ( email )

4L01 Posvar Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
United States

Peter Siavelis

Wake Forest University ( email )

2601 Wake Forest Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
United States

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