ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the impact of inclusive candidate selection methods on MPs’ features and party behaviour. By presenting the case of the Movimento 5 Stelle, we assess whether and to what extent the adoption of closed primaries may have entailed political renewal in terms of (i) MPs’ socio-political profile and (ii) MPs’ political behaviour with regard to party cohesion and policy responsiveness. In greater detail we investigate whether MPs with the largest amount of votes in primary elections would be less prone to support party cohesion and whether they would tend to guarantee a higher level of responsiveness during their parliamentary activity. Relying on analyses based on a dataset including all MPs elected in the 2013 Italian general election, our findings suggest that M5S actually boosted a process of renewal within the Italian Parliament, but our hypotheses investigating party cohesion and responsiveness are instead rejected.
