Abstract

This article examines some recent literature on party politics in advanced industrial states, which generally paints a picture of voter disengagement, declining grassroots party organization, and electoral instability. It is suggested that this changing scenario necessitates a new set of tools for understanding and interpreting party democracy in western democracies. A political economy approach to analyzing patterns of party competition and cooperation, and the nature of party organizations, is presented and some implications of this approach are discussed. In particular it is stressed that in the absence of the kind of traditional voluntary activism characteristic of 20th century mass parties, party democracy can only work very imperfectly.