United in diversity? Europarties and their individual members’ rights

TY - JOUR

T1 - United in diversity? Europarties and their individual members’ rights

AU - Hertner, Isabelle

PY - 2018/9/9

Y1 - 2018/9/9

N2 - At a time when most national parties in Europe are losing members, parties at the European level, or Europarties, have introduced membership for individuals. This article is the first to investigate, compare, and explain the individual membership of Europarties. It focuses on the rights of the individual members to participate in the formulation of policies and the selection of leadership candidates. For this purpose, the article develops an index that charts the participatory rights. In doing so, it highlights a high degree of variation between the Europarties. It argues that these differences can be explained through a combination of four factors: the Europarties’ electoral successes; the attitudes of the national member parties towards individual membership; the motivation and activism of the individual members; and Europarty funding rules. The article argues that if Europarties want to be seen as ‘real’ parties, they should grant their grassroots members real participatory powers.

AB - At a time when most national parties in Europe are losing members, parties at the European level, or Europarties, have introduced membership for individuals. This article is the first to investigate, compare, and explain the individual membership of Europarties. It focuses on the rights of the individual members to participate in the formulation of policies and the selection of leadership candidates. For this purpose, the article develops an index that charts the participatory rights. In doing so, it highlights a high degree of variation between the Europarties. It argues that these differences can be explained through a combination of four factors: the Europarties’ electoral successes; the attitudes of the national member parties towards individual membership; the motivation and activism of the individual members; and Europarty funding rules. The article argues that if Europarties want to be seen as ‘real’ parties, they should grant their grassroots members real participatory powers.

KW - Europarties

KW - European People's Party

KW - Party of European Socialists

KW - European Green Party

KW - Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

KW - Party of the European Left

KW - Individual party members

U2 - 10.1080/07036337.2018.1513500

DO - 10.1080/07036337.2018.1513500

M3 - Article

SN - 0703-6337

JO - Journal of European Integration

JF - Journal of European Integration

ER -