Being an amateur in politics: a look at the 2022 Italian general election

The scientific literature on politicians has predominantly focused on political professionalism. Scholars have defined the profile of the professional politician - characterized by a long political career involving roles in local, national and European institutions - and of the successful outsider - who enters politics thanks to external resources. However, there has been little attention to individuals, with contrasting profiles, who stand for election without prior institutional experience. Our research addresses this gap in the literature by examining candidates without electoral experience - referred to as amateurs - in the 2022 Italian general election. Through analysis of the CVs they submitted at the time of their nomination as candidates, the study explores their profiles and proposes a classification based on their previous positions in associations and political parties. The study highlights the different distributions of these two variables and illustrates the different selection strategies pursued by political parties. Moreover, the research confirms the significance of a classification system, demonstrating that different types of amateur candidates, with varying backgrounds, tend to be placed in different positions on party lists and in the district and have different chances of being elected.