Explain the role of recruitment in the political party process and focus your discussion on the effectiveness of recruitment in the 2016 election.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Recruitment is the main mechanism a party uses in order to shape elections. Parties seek candidates who best reflect the party’s philosophy as well as the states or localities they wish to represent. If a candidate wishes to run for office but lacks the support of the party leadership, strong effort can be placed on the candidate to reconsider his/her decision for the betterment of the party. However, we saw candidates in 2016 who have bucked this authority-based system of recruitment and sought and won the nomination of their party without the full support of the party’s leadership. It placed the parties in a difficult position, particularly with respect to the Republicans. In the Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders sought the support of the party as an outsider who represented the left-wing faction of the party and did not represent the moderate or more conservative wings of the party. This has driven the party base further left than when it started last year. With respect to the Republicans, Donald Trump started with a field of 17 candidates seeking the Republican nomination and fought a vicious campaign that many saw as repugnant with slurs and verbal accusations as well as name calling against the candidates he was running against. Despite this and despite the tepid reception he received from party insiders, Donald Trump successfully won the Republican nomination in 2016 and then went on to win the presidency.
[STUDENT ANSWERS MAY VARY BUT SHOULD DISCUSS THE NON-CONFORMIST PATHWAY BOTH SANDERS AND TRUMP HAVE TAKEN WITH REGARD TO TRADITIONAL RECRUITMENT THEORY.]