Candidate selection
processes in democratic systems are mostly controlled by political parties
rather than by voters’ decisions. Political parties act as gate-keepers and
effectively decide who stands the chance of being elected and who does not.
Quotas may guide the
political party’s candidate selection process for general elections and for
internal party posts. These may be either legislated in the Constitution or in
the electoral law, or be voluntary introduced by political parties.
Voluntary party quotas can
be either quotas for internal party posts or quotas for different stages of the
candidate selection process in the political party. For the former, please read
Internal
elections for Leadership positions and top national leadership selection. This file deals only with
voluntary party candidate quotas.
Internal voluntary party
quotas for candidates to general elections are targets set by political parties
to include a certain percentage of, for example, women or national minorities
as candidates. The quota has voluntarily been adopted by the political party
and is not required by law. Parties can choose to stipulate their internal
quota in their constitution or in other internal regulatory documents.
With an internal quota
system, political parties can clearly demonstrate their willingness to
encourage disadvantaged groups and to put the idea of fair representation and
equal opportunities into practice – even in countries without legislated
quotas. Where legislated quotas exist, parties can still choose to go even
further in their internal quotas.
Given that internal
voluntary party quotas are not mandated by law, they are not legally binding,
and there is no sanction system in place. However, since these quotas stem from
an internal decision within the party, they are often just as respected as
legislated quotas and thereby also as effective.
Types of voluntary
party candidate quotas
Voluntary party quota
requirements can be on three levels:
- Quotas for the
pool of potential candidates
This quota type is made to
open up the possibilities for party selection committees or voters in primary
elections to select candidates from a more diverse pool of potential candidates
than is normally presented to them. “Women only shortlists” is one way of
broadening the pool of potential candidates by including more women on the
party list than would have been represented otherwise
- Quotas for candidates/candidate lists
Most voluntary party quotas
fall into this category, where a fixed number or percentage of the places on
the candidate lists or total number of candidates is set aside for persons
belonging to the group(s) targeted by the law. For this type of voluntary quota
to be really effective, it is often combined with a placement criteria whereby
the disadvantaged groups are promised not only nomination but nomination to
winnable seats. This is sometimes called a “double quota”. Quotas for candidate
lists exist in plurality/majority systems but tend to be most effective in
proportional representation systems (see also Factors influencing the
implementation of voluntary party candidate quotas).[1]
- Quotas for the elected representatives
Quotas for the elected
representatives target the outcome of the elections. A political party can
decide that out of the seats they win in an election, a certain number or
percentage should be set aside for women or minority groups. This is only
applicable to systems where parties are able to determine who is going to
occupy the seat. (see the example of Niger)
[1] See: The Quota Project, different forms of quotas: http://www.quotaproject.org/aboutQuotas.cfm
