Ambition and access: Linking regional opportunity structures and career-ambitious youth party members

Youth party members are primarily driven by intrinsic moral and social motives, yet ambitions for political and professional careers vary considerably across individuals. Building on findings linking parties' national opportunity structures to having an increase in career-ambitious youth wing members, this research note examines opportunity structures at the regional level. Using a self-collected survey of youth party members in Germany (2017–2018, n = 1216), we show that career-ambitious members are particularly frequent in youth parties that are organizationally strong with numerous local and (sub)regional branches where ambitious youth wing members can make a career. Therefore, this research note provides a key insight into the motivations of young people, and especially those pursuing a political career, for joining youth parties and speaks to a broader literature concerned with political ambition, party organization, and careers.