Yes, no, maybe: an analysis of journalists’ views about political party membership in South Africa

Communicatio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-56
Author(s):  
Glenda Daniels
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party Membership

scholarly journals Review: Useful but flawed survey of media role in bleak political landscape

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 252
Author(s):  
Philip Cass
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Party Membership ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The Media

Review of: Politics and the Media, edited by Babak Bahador, Geoff Kemp, Kate McMillan and Chris Rudd. Auckland: Pearson, 2013. ISBN 978144255826A generaton after the capitalist roaders took over the New Zealand Labour Party, the country’s political landscape is bleak. As described in this new book, it is one in which no political party is interested in any ideology except staying in power, no party will do anything that might offend a focus group, PR hacks control policy, political party membership has all but disappeared, the public is almost totally disengaged and most of the media has neither the time, the skill nor the inclination to cover politics.

Party Members and Activists in Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Meléndez ◽  
Sebastián Umpierrez de Reguero
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Party Membership ◽  
Party Organizations ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Party Members

Despite existing literature that often conflates the terms party membership and party activism, the first is a formal ascription with a given party organization, while the second entails a set of practices, whether sporadic, informal, or devoted, that (a group of) individuals perform to support a political party either during an electoral campaign or more permanently, independently of being enrolled in the party or not. Party members and activists can be analyzed from both the normative model of democracy and the inner functioning of political parties. Focusing on Latin America, party membership and party activism are related to various types of party organizations, social cleavages, and party identification. Individuals join, and/or work for, parties to gain tangible benefits, information, social advantages, and influence, as well as mental satisfaction, without which they could lose financial resources, time, and alternative opportunities. Moreover, prior contributions on party membership and activism based on Latin American countries has emphasized the functions party supporters have as connectors between the citizenry and the party organizations. In this regard, scholars conceive members’ participation not only as a mechanism for party rootedness (“vertical” function), but also as a connection between social and partisan arenas (“horizontal” function). In the region, the research area of party membership and activism portrays virtues and limitations in methodological terms both at the aggregate and the individual level. As a future research agenda, party membership and activism in Latin America should be further studied using comparative strategies, avoiding the pitfalls of public opinion research, not to mention making additional efforts to keep the two terms conceptually distinct. Also, party members and activists can be explored in transnational perspective, joining forces with the blooming literature of political party abroad.

Using Social Network Analysis (SNA) to Study Members and Activists of Political Parties

2020 ◽  
Vol 147-148 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-48
Author(s):  
Emilien Paulis
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Party Member ◽  
Party Membership ◽  
Local Party

This article explores the development of my PhD dissertation’s methodological approach, based on Social Network Analysis (SNA), or the collection and analysis of network data, in order to deal with political parties and their members (party membership). I extensively relied on this alternative, growing methodological background in three extents. First (1), SNA was used to analyze bibliographic references related to my dissertation topic, i.e. party membership studies, and identify the most central authors, thereby illustrating the literature review while describing their key contributions. Second (2), SNA was employed to collect and analyze network data likely to better grasp how interpersonal networks affect the probability for a random citizen to turn into party member, assuming that social influence matters in the process of joining a political party. Third (3), I further capitalized on SNA to deal with the question of party activism and why some members become active whereas others remain passive, arguing theoretically and showing empirically that part of the answer lies in members’ position within their local party branch’s social network. Each of these three applications is discussed in the light of the main methodological developments, the empirical findings and their interpretation, while shortcomings and research opportunities are more systematically highlighted at the end.

The Changing Nature of Political Party Membership

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Scarrow
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Digital Citizenship ◽  
Party Membership ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Political Empowerment ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Parliamentary Democracies ◽  
New Procedures

Party membership has long been an important channel for political participation in many countries. Strong membership organizations have helped parties win elections and stay connected with voters between elections, and membership opportunities have helped to mobilize some citizens who might otherwise have stayed out of politics. Yet in the last quarter-century, long-established political parties in parliamentary democracies have, with a few notable exceptions, experienced sharp enrollment declines, while newer parties have developed modest memberships at best. This has led many observers to question the continued viability of membership-based political parties. However, that is not the whole story. While some signs point to the obsolescence of party membership, there are other indications that parties are trying to reinvent the form, whether as a passport to individual political empowerment or as a pathway to digital citizenship. Most strikingly, many parties are experimenting with new procedures that give members a direct say in important party decisions. In this sense, the paradoxical story of party membership in the early 21st century is one of numerical decline accompanied by a possible increase in political relevance.

scholarly journals Reconstruction of Political Party Membership In the Indonesian House of Representatives

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwi Putri Cahyawati ◽  
Bintan Saragih
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party Membership

Abstrak:Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (selanjutnya disebut DPR) merupakan lembaga perwakilan rakyat, yang merupakan perwujudan dari ketentuan Pasal 1 Ayat (2) Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945. Secara sosiologis keberadaan DPR sebagai wakil rakyat merupakan amanat dari seluruh rakyat Indonesia yang harus dijalankan. Dalam praktek ketatanegaraan Indonesia, peran DPR sebagai lembaga perwakilan rakyat diwujudkan dalam bentuk fraksi, yang merupakan perpanjangan tangan partai politik dan lembaga DPR.  Fraksi dibentuk dengan maksud untuk mengoptimalkan   fungsi, tugas, dan wewenang DPR.Keyword: DPR, Partai Politik, Pemilu 

Stability and Change in the Views of Representatives: Some Evidence from Southeast England

1984 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
R C Prentice
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Party Membership ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Stability And Change ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Political Membership

To what extent is a councillor's political party membership a likely determinant of his views on processes of policymaking in local government? In this paper, evidence is presented from two local authorities in Southeast England. Two specific questions are addressed. First to what degree is party political membership a useful surrogate for views? Second, to what extent are the collective views of party members stable in the medium term?

The Contours of Political Party Membership in Canada

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Cross ◽  
Lisa Young
Keyword(s):  
Political Party ◽  
Party Membership
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