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The Local Party Organization and Its Members: Between Randomness and Rationality *
Author(s) -
Selle Per,
Svåsand Lars
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
scandinavian political studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9477
pISSN - 0080-6757
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9477.1983.tb00280.x
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , bureaucracy , rationality , randomness , action (physics) , politics , political science , public relations , point (geometry) , party platform , law , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , geometry , democracy
In this article we shall argue the importance of approaching the relationship between party organizations and party members by analyzing the interaction between characteristics of the national party system, the party organization as a more or less open or closed system, and the resources of individuals particularly conducive to party membership. We shall mainly discuss the organizational level, taking as a starting point different models from organizational theory: the rational behaviour model, the survival model, the bureaucratic model, and the symbolic action model. We apply these models in our search for how political parties seek to mobilize members. Examples illustrating the relevance of the different models are a warning to those who wish to develop a general theory of party organization.