Are Groups Replacing Parties ? A Multi - Level Analysis of Party and Group Membership in the European Democracies

The decline of party membership and party activism in European Democracies has been well established, but this phenomenon has not been effectively explained. This is partly because a full test of any explanation requires longitudinal comparative survey data which does not exist. This paper suggests that generational replacement explains the decline of party activism, so that existing party activists are not being replaced by younger cohorts of volunteers. Young cohorts of political activists prefer to get involved in single issue pressure groups and in other types of voluntary organisations, rather than in parties. A multi-level analysis of party activism across 22 countries finds support for this hypothesis. Membership in the European Democracies.