Many accounts of party reform presume that ordinary, grassroots members are the drivers of change; or at the very least they desire a greater role in intra-party decisions involving policy, personnel selection and strategic direction. This paper investigates the role of party members in the two major political parties (the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party) by analyzing how members have contributed to the current reform agenda in each of these parties, and comparing their views with the ‘official’ story of party reform – as espoused in campaign and organizational review documents. In doing so, the paper explores how party members conceptualize their role within the modern party organization, and how this conflicts – or is reconciled – with the views of party elites. Data will be sourced from membership surveys, party review documents, and through case studies of ‘grassroots’ campaigning groups within the parties, such as Local Labor.
