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The Making of Democratic Politicians: Comparative Political Recruitment

Module description

Who and how becomes a politician in a democracy? What does it take to get nominated for a political office and to run as a candidate? And if one makes it through an eye of a needle, what happens to a politician in office?

This module helps you trace political careers of politicians from different countries from ‘cradle to grave’, i.e., from becoming a political aspirant/nominee to leaving a political office.

This module does not have pre-requisites and would appeal to a wide range of students interested in comparative, democratic politics. It does not easily lend itself to an interdisciplinary pathway, however.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to introduce you to the concepts of political recruitment, i.e., how one becomes a politician, and of political behaviour, i.e., what being a politician entails. By tracing political career across democratic countries, this module examines levels of party and individual political mobilisation, explores party selection rules and their influences on the candidate pool, biases and pre-conceptions at the ballot box, as well as legislative roles and behaviours of elected politicians. It aims to give you a comprehensive understanding of how democratic politicians are made, and how their political careers are shaped by political environments, institutions and networks, in which they operate. For you of politics such knowledge could on academic and applied interest, as some may choose to stand for a political office and/or assist political parties and candidates in their future careers.

The module will be taught in weekly 2-hour workshops that will enable you to engage with readings and supporting materials and to apply them to analyse data, campaign materials, etc.

The module will be assessed based on a country portfolio aiming to explore and to evaluate political recruitment trends and processes in a democratic country of your choice.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of political recruitment
• 2. Critically evaluate and empirically apply these approaches to study comparative political recruitment

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of concepts, approaches and methodologies in the area of political recruitment and ability to contextualise them within the broader discipline of politics
• 4. Develop and present coherently and reflectively, orally and in writing, evidence-based arguments relevant to the module content

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Communicate effectively and comprehensively in the content of debates and in writing in different formats, including by synthesising and evaluating different types of evidence for summative assignment
• 6. Manage tasks and complete research assignments with minimum guidance, while critically reflecting on the learning process and feedback and integrating them into assignments
• 7. Synthesise and evaluate information from a range of sources to develop robust, evidence-based and logically sound arguments demonstrating ability to read, think and write critically

Syllabus plan

While the precise content of this module varies annually, as it reflect evolving scholarship and political practices, the following topics will be covered by this module:

• Theoretical and empirical approaches to political recruitment
• Political mobilisation
• Pathways to politics: from aspiration to nomination
• Party selection and party selectorate
• What and whom do voters want – and do not?
• ‘Once in Rome’ – political behaviour in office
• Afterlife – what is life after politics?

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as defined above. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Annesley, C., Beckwith, K., & Franceschet, S. (2019). Cabinets, ministers, and gender. Oxford University Press.
• Krook, M. L. (2020). Violence against women in politics. Springer.
• Norris, P., & Lovenduski, J. (1995). Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class in the British Parliament. Cambridge University Press.
• Searing, D. (1994). Westminster’s World: understanding political roles. Harvard University Press.
• Semenova, E., Edinger, M., & Best, H. (Eds.). (2013). Parliamentary elites in Central and Eastern Europe: Recruitment and representation. Routledge.
• Siavelis, P. M. (2012). Pathways to power: Political recruitment and candidate selection in Latin America. Pennsylvania State Press.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Web-based and electronic resources:

• Inter-Parliamentary Union http://www.ipu.org/english/home.htm
• Commonwealth Parliamentary Union http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/mem/default.aspx
• PSA Specialist Group on Parliaments https://psaparliaments.org/
• Westminster Foundation for Democracyhttp://www.wfd.org

Useful data sources:

• Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) https://v-dem.net/
• The Comparative Candidate Survey (CCS) https://www.comparativecandidates.org/

Key words search

Political recruitment, politician, democracy, election, comparative politics