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This article offers an overview of levels of party membership in European democracies at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century and looks also at changes in these levels over time, comparing party membership today with figures from both 1980 and the late 1990s. While relying primarily on the direct and individual membership figures as reported by the parties themselves, the fit of the data with survey data is explored and it is concluded that the two perform well in terms of convergent validity. The differences between large and small democracies are examined, as well as old and new democracies, and it is found that levels of party membership are related to both the size and age of the democratic polity in question. Finally, the implications of the patterns observed in the membership data are discussed, and it is suggested that membership has now reached such a low ebb that it may no longer constitute a relevant indicator of party organisational capacity. Adapted from the source document.

This article provides an overview and a broad comparison of the development of party membership in European democracies and discusses the implications of the decline in party membership for our understanding of party organization and party democracy. Our study provides an update of reporting by Mair and Van Rush (2001), which followed the study of Katz, Mair et al. (1992). The analysis covers the period from the late 1980s until the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. The number of countries that is included is expanded (to 27), so our study now includes almost all European democracies, including the long-established democracies in Western Europe, the more recent democracies in Southern Europe as well as post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. The data we present are based on direct, individual membership figures as reported by the parties (in the article we show, moreover, that there is a strong correlation with the data come from survey research exists, however disadvantage of the survey data is that this level of party membership systematically overestimate). We analyze both the level of party membership expressed in raw numbers (M) and the party membership as a percentage of the electorate (M / E), an indicator that is more suitable for transnational comparisons. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThis article offers an overview of levels of party membership in European democracies at the end of the first decade of the twenty‐first century and looks also at changes in these levels over time, comparing party membership today with figures from both 1980 and the late 1990s. While relying primarily on the direct and individual membership figures as reported by the parties themselves, the fit of the data with survey data is explored and it is concluded that the two perform well in terms of convergent validity. The differences between large and small democracies are examined, as well as old and new democracies, and it is found that levels of party membership are related to both the size and age of the democratic polity in question. Finally, the implications of the patterns observed in the membership data are discussed, and it is suggested that membership has now reached such a low ebb that it may no longer constitute a relevant indicator of party organisational capacity.

This article introduces a specially commissioned issue of West European Politics marking the journal's 30th anniversary. It highlights profound changes in the European political landscape over the last three decades, including the fall of Communism; progressive European integration; territorial restructuring; public sector reforms at European, national, regional and local levels; changes in democratic participation, protest, elections, political communication, political parties and party competition; and challenges to the welfare state. The special issue also discusses how political science has responded to these changes in terms of its substantive focus, concepts, methods and theories. Many of the 17 contributions included in the special issue identify important challenges for the future, including those challenges stemming from EU integration, the reduced electoral accountability of politicians, the problematic legitimation of party government and the sharpening of the edges of the state. Adapted from the source document.