The cartel party model has triggered a burgeoning literature on its theoretical implications, and has been largely tested empirically. Nevertheless, the dimension of the model that concern the relationship between members and elites has been rather neglected, even though the membership role variables are the sole features of the cartel party that transcend the simple intensification of the previous catch‐all model and that carry the most extensive explanatory power. This article explores the role of party membership and activism in contemporary parties in two West European party systems to assess in a quantitative way the applicability of the cartel party theory. We explore the relationship between party ideology and the degree of cartelization. By examining the relationship between all these different dimensions, we challenge the idea that a retrenched membership role and cartelization are linked processes.
El modelo de partido de cartel ha disparado una floreciente literatura sobre sus implicaciones teóricas y ha sido ampliamente probado empíricamente. Sin embargo, la dimensión del modelo que concierne a la relación entre los miembros y las elites ha sido descuidada, aun cuando las variables del rol de la afiliación son las únicas características del partido de cartel que trascienden la simple intensificación del modelo catch‐all y que tienen el poder de explicación más extenso. Este artículo explora el rol de la afiliación partidista y del activismo en dos sistemas de partidos de Europa Occidental para evaluar de una manera cuantitativa la aplicabilidad de la teoría del partido de cartel. Exploramos la relación entre la ideología del partido y el grado de cartelización. A partir del análisis de la relación entre todas estas dimensiones, desafiamos la idea de que el rol de una afiliación reducida y la cartelización sean procesos relacionados.
This study examines the pillarised and partitocratic nature of Belgian political parties via an empirical overview of their party on the ground. Two main research questions guide the study: To what extent can party membership figures in Belgium be considered as ideal-typical of pillarised or partitocratic parties? And how does the social and political profile of party members in Belgium correspond to what one might expect from pillarised or partitocratic parties? The study relies on two types of data set: party membership figures since WWII and membership survey data of the four 'dominant' relatives in each party family in Belgium. The article shows contradicting results. Although party membership figures have nuanced the idea of partitocratic and pillar parties, the analysis of the profile of party members has produced more conclusive results. The members of some parties (PS, CD&V) still display a strong encapsulation in their sociological world, report specific reasons for joining, as well as lower levels of activism than in other parties. The pillar parties in Belgium seem to have reached a paradoxical situation in which their anchorage in civil society is still very strong, yet it relies on a shrinking social basis. These results raise the question of the incentives that parties offer to their party on the ground to mobilise citizens for participation. They indicate a need to look more systematically and empirically at this neglected aspect of party organisation, as it provides important information for the debate on party decline.
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