US Parties Abroad: Partisan Mobilising in a Federal Context

Abstract

AbstractIn the early 2000s, some observers predicted that the US parties’ overseas association would play an increasing role in US politics (Dark 2003). Changes since then, including the growth of the expatriate population, would seem to make such developments more likely. Yet many features of the US political system mitigate against party efforts to mobilise expatriate supporters, including single-member district elections and candidate-centred contests (Van Haute and Kernalegenn, 2020). What, then, has been the 21st century trajectory of US party abroad activity? This article investigates this question, comparing the recent evolution Democrat and Republican party abroad efforts. It shows that the parties have taken different paths, with the Democrats’ organisation focussing more on electoral mobilisation, while the Republicans’ organisation has focussed more on issue advocacy and non-electoral representation. These different operational modes reflect the opportunities for, and constraints on, mobilising US expatriates for partisan purposes.