Appendix Five - Samples of Elite Interview Questions

Summary

Party Recruitment, Candidate Selection and Attitudes Towards Political Leadership (Gatekeepers)

Personal Political Experiences

1. Please describe your occupational/educational background (Icebreaking question).

2. Did you have any experience participating in politics or public life before joining party?

3. What were your main motivations for becoming involved in politics/ party?

4. Has anyone else in your family been involved in politics? If so, please give details.

5. How many years have you been an active member of ______________ party? (ask only if you cannot get the information publicly)

6. Has your participation in politics resulted in any difficulties or improvements in your home life?

7. Did you face any harassment or intimidation being a party gatekeeper? (Note to interviewer: this can be in the form of online, social media, verbal harassment, physical threats, attacks or exclusion from places to campaign)

Intra Party Rules and Candidate Selection Procedures

8. Please tell me how people in your party get chosen to be members of central committee (CC) or central executive committee (CEC)?

9. Different levels of candidate selection:

a. Did your Central Committee play an important role in selecting candidates?

b. Did your Township Chairman play an important role in selecting candidates?

c. Were there other individuals who played a key role in the candidate selection process? (please identify gender)

10. Experience in Party Positions:

a. Have you held any position within your party? (e.g. Central committee, township committee, Youth wing, Women's wing)

b. If so, how did you get chosen for that position?

11. How do people in your party get chosen to become members of the party's township committee? (prompt to interviewer: please record separately the process for: i) chairperson, ii) secretary, and iii) other positions)

12. Can you explain more of your party's rules, criteria and procedures in selecting candidates for the last general election? (Please check if there is an internal election process, check if ordinary party members have a chance to be nominated as candidates). Can you describe the process in more detail?

13. Can the ordinary party members decide who the party nominates as a candidate for a general election?

14. If you could change the rules and procedures used by your party for candidate selection, what would you change?