This Standing Group deals with the selection of party leaders and candidates in Italy and in a comparative perspective. It pays specific attention to the rules, competition, and consequences of the so-called primary elections, where party members or party sympathizers and voters are allowed to select party leaders and candidates for elections.
Among its activities, the Standing Group has carried out extensive research on primary elections, e.g., by producing exit polls for all the Partito Democratico (PD) leader selections since 2007 onwards.
The Standing Group is open to all scholars studying political parties, political elites, leader and candidate selection methods.