Party Members’ Power: Conjoint Experiment on Parties’ Decision-Making

• In Event: Party Activists, Party Members, and Intra-Party Democracy

Abstract

This paper employs a conjoint experiment to systematically investigate the preferences of English political party members regarding decision-making processes within their respective parties. The study aims to address an empirical gap in the extant literature on party politics by examining members' perspectives on concrete procedural and organisation aspects related to their influence within the party. Against the backdrop of a representation crisis afflicting Western democracies, there is a growing imperative for parties to redefine their connections with society through heightened intra-party democratic procedures.

The theoretical research question guiding this study is: Despite the advocacy for democratisation, why have English parties not substantively augmented their internal democratic procedures? The operational research questions steering the investigation are twofold: 1. Do political parties’ members want increase or diminish their internal power, and does this inclination exhibit variations across parties? 2. What decision-making model(s) of political party do members prefer? To what extent do the preferred models diverge among members of different parties, and do these preferences diverge among parties and distinct member categories?

The conjoint experiment presents respondents choices between hypothetical party profiles featuring randomly assigned decision-making attributes. Each profile comprises eight attributes covering leader and candidate selection procedures, membership types, manifesto drafting, policy stances decisions, digitalisation, diversity quotas, and authority over expulsions. Randomly assigned conditions (levels) enable the isolation of the unique impact of each attribute and their combinations on members' choices.

The study's sample population consists of 1000 members from the Conservative and Labour parties, strategically chosen as the two primary parties to ensure robust sampling within the English majoritarian electoral system (UK's first-past-the-post system). As insiders with direct procedural experience, party members constitute an informed group capable of evaluating alternative procedures effectively.

A comprehensive literature review underscores the scarcity of conjoint experiments specifically addressing parties’ decision-making and intra-party democracy. Existing surveys predominantly concentrate on leadership selection methods only, individual attributes, indirect attitudes, and abstract notions of democracy. In contrast, this study employs multi-dimensional choices between concrete procedures, providing a more nuanced understanding of members' decision-making preferences and the level of influence they seek.

Case selection deliberately centres on England as an emblematic established Western democracy facing a representation crisis, prompting calls for democratic renewal. The two main parties are strategically chosen to ensure robust sampling within the majoritarian system, with members serving as an informed sample due to their direct experience.

In summary, the findings will provide insights into party democratisation and intra-party democracy, carrying implications for members’ representativeness and responsiveness. Ultimately, the result of this research can contribute to debates on reinvigorating parties to enhance representativeness, responsiveness, participation, and legitimacy.

Authors

• Marco Meloni, University of Southampton

• Paolo Spada, University of Southampton

• Fabio Lupato, University Complutense Madrid

• Matt Ryan, University of Southampton