This paper analyses the ‘openness’ of the parliamentary candidate selection procedures within 83 parties in twelve West European countries. It analyses both the official party rules as laid down in the statutes and the actual candidates selection process. Paradoxically, the empirical analysis shows that those organizations which are vital to democracy, namely political parties, adopt very undemocratic and elite-controlled modes of parliamentary candidate selection. In order to assess whether this high level of centralization is caused by (fear of) radicalism of the active membership, this paper compares the ideological disparity between the party leadership and active members (the mid-level elite). It emerges that the level of intra-party ideological disparity is low.
