New Parties/New Politics?: A Case Study of the British Labour Party

In: Party politics: an international journal for the study of political parties and political organizations, Volume 5, Issue 3, p. 383-405

Abstract

Britain's two major parties have rediscovered their members. For a variety of reasons both the Labour and Conservative parties have adopted pro-active recruitment strategies. At the same time, they have introduced direct democracy as an important part of their internal procedures. A detailed study of Labour's reforms suggests various possible implications for the future, including the fact that the plebiscitarian party might be an increasingly common feature in modern democracies.