Inside New Parties: Party Members and Party Organization

Abstract

There is no guarantee for the ‘lifetime’ of a party: in democratic political systems parties emerge but also disappear – sometimes out of the sudden. As changing circumstances push parties to change, renew or reinvent themselves, a key to party survival is precisely their ability to adapt to ever-changing social, political and electoral realities. To adapt to these realities, often parties must undergo change, including institutional reforms regarding their organization and their membership. The panel focus on this issue: How do new vs. old parties adapt to the aforementioned changing realities? How do new parties affect old parties? (How) Do they change in organizational terms? Do we have a new type of parties?