A Never-Ending Crisis?

Abstract

The mass party is an influential concept in the social sciences and history. This chapter contributes to the discussions about the current crisis of party from an interdisciplinary perspective. First, the development of the party literature is discussed with attention to methodical and analytical differences. Starting from the early 20th century, party scholars believed large membership to be important for the democratic function of parties. This perspective was maintained in the post-war period when disciplinary specialisation became more prevalent. While the aim of historians was to understand the history of individual parties, social scientists like Maurice Duverger compared parties to derive general patterns. Nevertheless, the social sciences and history have more in common than disciplinary purists might think. The chapter finishes with a historical analysis of the ‘mass party’ to show disciplinary intersections. While the term emerged in the early 20th century, the idea and practice originated half a decade earlier. Early modern parties used a flexible definition of the mass character of their organisation that not only included quantity, but also referred to the social status of members. It is this precise reading of history that might contribute to nuanced conceptualisation of the crisis of parties today.