Suchergebnisse

Political parties are the building blocks of representative democracy since they traditionally perform roles that are considered essential for the functioning & well-being of democracy. In the study & evaluation of the democratic system as a whole, as a general rule, parties are treated as unitary actors. Most political parties, however, are membership organizations & their external functioning is partly dependent on internal affairs, including the behavior & opinions of their members. In this paper we open the black box of parties & show on the basis of a 2008 survey among seven political parties how united or divided ordinary Dutch party members are with respect to various political issues & orientations. It is shown that most parties are rather united on most issues. They are least united on two of the most pertinent issues of today's politics, ie., the integration of ethnic minorities & European integration. Adapted from the source document.