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Members’ Interests: What Do Parties Want from Their Rank-and-File?

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorTim Bale,Monica Poletti,Paul Webb
Published date01 December 2019
Date01 December 2019
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/2041905819891367
16 POLITICAL INSIGHT • DECEMBER 2019
It’s sometimes easy to forget that,
until very recently, Britain’s political
parties, like most of their continental
European counterparts, were losing
rather than gaining members. Moreover,
there was a widespread assumption
that this was, at least in part, because
they were no longer truly interested in
attracting members – especially the kind
of demanding, active members who
sometimes seem to delight in causing
trouble for their leaders. Funding could
Members’ Interests:
What Do Parties Want
from Their Rank-and-File?
Members are often seen as the bedrock of p olitical parties. But how
do parties feel about their members? Are they a central to how parties
operate? Or are members an optional extra in the digital age? Tim Bale,
Paul Webb and Monica Poletti explore.
supposedly be had from elsewhere
and elections won not by locally-
driven grassroots campaigning in the
constituencies but on national television
and via centrally-directed polling,
advertising, and direct mail.
How accurate is this portrayal? How,
in 2019, do parties see members? Are
they seen as nice-to-have, but no longer
strictly necessary? Are they thought of
as assets or liabilities – or maybe a bit of
both? And, presuming they want to, how
© Press Association
Political Insight December 2019.indd 16 05/11/2019 10:15

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