Membership and participation in independent local parties: Patterns and explanations

Abstract

Despite the rising electoral success of independent local parties in many European countries, empirical evidence about their members is still rare. Therefore, the study aims to answer three questions to reach new insights: Who are these members? Which incentives motivate them to join, and how is intra-party participation structured? Based on a cross-sectional postal survey in Germany, the results show that members of independent local parties and national parties have mostly the same socioeconomic background and thus differ from the average general population. Independent local party members join their organisations mainly to promote an apolitical style of local decision-making and facilitate local democracy. Within independent local parties, different types of participation are present; while some members are fully engaged, others are mainly involved as elected representatives in public office or interested in social exchange. The interplay of membership incentives, civic skills and individual resources explains the variation of intra-party participation, whereby membership incentives are the most powerful explanatory factor. This study shows that independent local parties represent an alternative for those who have joined national parties, to date. Thus, they provide an essential linkage between citizens and the (local) political system.

What Does It Take for Immigrants to Join Political Parties?

“…The variable national attachment is measured in the ESS with a ten-point scale ranging from not at all emotionally attached (0) to very emotionally attached (10). Additionally, following the findings on the relevance gender and age have on the likelihood of party membership (Achury et al, 2020;Angenendt, 2023), our model controls for gender and age.…”

“…Research has demonstrated that party members compose a rather homogenous group of citizens that does not mirror the diversity in the population (Achury et al, 2020;Angenendt, 2023). Focusing on citizens of immigrant origin (CIO), characterized by their diversity in terms of ethnicity, religion, race, and language, studies have identified barriers immigrants face while incorporating themselves into political parties and becoming elected representatives (Dancygier et al, 2015;Zapata-Barrero, 2017).…”

Die Freien Wähler: Eine anständige Alternative für Konservative?

“…It is anything but a foregone conclusion that the Free Voters' formula for success in local politics can easily be transferred to federal politics. According to the thesis of second-order elections (Reif and Schmitt 1980), voters are more likely to cast "protest" votes in local elections than federal ones, with the result that the established parties have greater competition from the independent local lists who benefit from voters' distrust in the established parties (see Jankowski et al 2022a;Angenendt 2018Angenendt , 2023. Thus, the conditions of party competition in higher-level politics differ from those in local politics.…”