Where are the Members? French Political Parties and their Membership

French political parties have undergone significant changes since the 1990s: changes to their funding regime, continued decline in party membership, pressures to ‘democratise’ that have led to the development of primaries and even ‘open primaries’ to select some candidates, as well as splits and mergers. This paper will compare the role of membership in the organisation of French political parties. Although France has traditionally had low levels of party membership compared to similar European democracies, parties still value membership, at the very least as a symbol of their link with the electorate and society at large. This paper will compare how French parties organise, what place they give to their membership in their decision-making processes, the depth of members’ engagement in party life and which efforts (if any) they make to attract members.