This paper argues that parties in parliamentary democracies have been changing the ways that they create formal ties with party supporters. On the one hand, many parties have been making membership easier to obtain and renew, with membership turning into just another kind of on-line purchase. On the other hand, parties have expanding their use of digital technologies to expand the ways that individuals can affiliate with parties and with party media. These new forms of enlistment enable parties to communicate with supporters and to try to mobilize them at critical political junctures. The paper uses a survey of 109 party web pages from 19 parliamentary democracies to document how parties have been reaching out to supporters to construct organizations that give them multiple ways to connect with the party, and to get involved with its work.
