Why would parties continue to care about membership enrollment in an age of television campaigning and direct mail fundraising? To answer this question, Susan Scarrow traces organizing strategies employed by British and German membership parties during the past half century. Using careful analysis of historical records and interviews with party officials, she shows that party organizers have reacted to technological and social developments by modifying their ideas about how members can help parties achieve their goals.

The popular pressures for reforms of the democratic process have mounted across the OECD nations over the past generation. In response, democratic institutions are changing, evolving, and expanding in ways that may alter the structure of the democratic process. These changes include reforms of the electoral process, the expansion of referendums, introduction of open government provisions, and more access points for direct political involvement. Indeed, some observers claim that we are witnessing the most fundamental transformation of the democratic process since the creation of mass democracy...

The popular pressures for reforms of the democratic process have mounted across the OECD nations over the past generation. In response, democratic institutions are changing, evolving, and expanding in ways that may alter the structure of the democratic process. These changes include reforms of the electoral process, the expansion of referendums, introduction of open government provisions, and more access points for direct political involvement. Indeed, some observers claim that we are witnessing the most fundamental transformation of the democratic process since the creation of mass democracy...