Candidate Selection in Israel: Between the One, the Few, and the Many

The first part of this chapter analyzes the main developments in candidate selection methods, focusing on the levels of inclusiveness of the selectorates-the bodies selecting the candidates. The selectorate may be highly exclusive (e.g., a single leader or a nominating committee composed of a few party leaders and/or apparatchiks); moderately inclusive (a party agency whose members were selected by a larger group of party members); or highly inclusive (party members or even party supporters). The analysis identifies a seemingly transient decline in the participatory aspect of party democracy, expressed by the adoption of more exclusive selectorates; a clear trend of the largest parties to avoid selection by party agencies, preferring either more exclusive selectorates (e.g., the party leader) or more inclusive ones (party members); a widening of the range of the selectorates used by the largest parties, extending from the extremely exclusive, composed of a single leader, to the highly inclusive selectorate of party members; and a tendency to entrust a single selectorate with candidate selection rather than involving several in the selection process.