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The existing model of party membership has entered a crisis, due in part to issues of internal organization, but primarily due to a sustained change within the context of current German society. Examination of relevant empirical research suggests that shedding of traditions, individualization, & transformation of values are potential reasons for this change. Citizens, in particular younger citizens, are less & less prepared to acknowledge the bureaucratic structure of established parties & unions as a suitable forum for political participation. Instead, they turn toward projects & other forms of limited participation. Parties respond by developing into professional politic-offering entities on a market-organized field, & therefore require strengthened recruitment, market-style operations, & corporate designs for the continuing electoral fight. In this way, a long-term dual structure is created, from large political undertakings on the one side, & a decentralized network of civil society on the other. L. Kehl