Political parties and youth’s political (under) representation

Abstract This introductory/ overview article discusses and applies the so-called ladder of recruitment to youth and their representation in parliament. The ladder includes four steps (i.e., eligible citizens, party members, candidates and legislators) with diminishing returns for youth representation at each step. I further illustrate that the literature on youth representation has mainly focused on the final stage of the ladder, the election stage, and has largely neglected the role of political parties in the recruitment and nomination of youth. This symposium rectifies this dearth of scholarship by looking at the role of youth party members, their relative power within parties and the opportunities they have to gain nomination.