Parties, Interest Groups, and Administered Mass Organizations

Abstract

Many military-bureaucratic and single-party regimes have created official mass organizations to eliminate opposition, to mobilize for war, and to implement socioeconomic policies. Case studies have demonstrated the historical significance of these state-directed bodies, but empirical political theory has not identified them as a distinct form of organization. As a result, scholars often portray them as would-be parties or interest groups, which belies their true character. Based on data from 10 countries, this study contends that the main purpose of these “administered mass organizations” differentiates them from parties and interest groups, and that their common structural traits mark them as a separate type of political institution.