Picking the Leaders of Tomorrow: A comparative case study on nomination committees in political youth organizations

Sammanfattning: Nomination committees are a powerful, yet under-researched, institution in organizations throughout society. This becomes even more palpable in politics, and especially in political youth organizations, where nomination committees hold a central role in choosing future leaders and decision- makers. The subject of the thesis is nomination committees within two political youth organizations in Sweden; the Centre Party Youth (Swedish: Centerpartiets ungdomsförbund) and The Moderate Youth League (Swedish: Moderata ungdomsförbundet). The thesis aims to examine which characteristics nomination committees value in candidates for the nomination to board positions, and which factors influence the characteristics, on different levels of the respective associations. In a comparative case study, twelve interviews were executed within the two associations, composing the empirical material of the study together with additional internal and external material. The empirical findings are analyzed through the lens of governance theory and political theory. The findings show that in CUF, competencies and traits such as expert knowledge, organizational knowledge and marketing skills are highly valued, while in MUF valued competencies and traits are among others communicative skills, social skills and especially recruitment skills. Further, the findings show that two main factors influence the characteristics being valued by nomination committees. These are: the size of the organization, and the heterogeneity of the same, which both influence how nomination committees weigh between competencies and traits on the one side, and representation on the other. Together, these factors affect who gets nominated for an influential organizational position and, in turn, may become a future leader in society. On a more general level, the thesis hence contributes to an increased understanding of nomination committees in associations, an integral yet overlooked part in governance theory.