Does the early bird get the worm? On the analysis of the long-term political careers

Party membership tends to decline over time. Surprisingly, however, youth wings of political parties continue to operate. What career benefits might politicians gain from participating in these organisations? In my paper, I examine how career prospects for parliamentarians and political leaders differ between those who began their political careers within party youth organisations in Germany and those who joined political parties later or through other paths. Are there gender effects? How can we explain that? I first discuss the typical and possible career trajectories of parliamentarians, applying descriptive statistics and sequence analysis. I then explore whether longer involvement within party structures increases the likelihood of being nominated for parliamentary representation. To accurately estimate the effects across genders, I use matching techniques.