Party Members and Activists (Routledge Research on Social and Political Elites)

"Membership of political parties is diverse. Not everyone participates and those who do, do not participate in the same way. This book engages with the debate over the significance and future of political parties as membership organisations and presents the first broad comparative analysis of party membership and activism. It is based on membership surveys which have been administered, gathered and collated by a group of prominent party scholars from across Europe, Canada and Israel. Utilizing this rich data source together with the insights of party scholars, the book investigates what party membership means in advanced industrial democracies. In doing so, it provides a clearer picture of who joins political parties, why they do it, the character of their political activism, how they engage with their parties, and what opinions they hold. This text will be of interest to scholars and students of comparative politics, particularly to those interested in representation, participation, political parties and elections"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of figures 10 List of tables 11 List of contributors 13 List of party names and abbreviations 16 1 Introduction: party membership and activism 22 2 Party membership in Spain and congress delegates 38 3 Party membership in Belgium: from the cradle to the grave? 55 4 Party membership in Canada 71 5 Party membership in Denmark: fluctuating membership figures and organizational stability 87 6 Party membership in Germany: rather formal, therefore uncool? 105 7 Party membership in Israel: the era of party primaries 121 8 Party membership in Italy 138 9 Party membership in the Netherlands 155 10 Party membership in Norway: declining but still viable? 172 11 Party membership in Britain: a minority pursuit 190 12 Conclusion: members and activists of political parties in comparative perspective 207 References 224 Index 244